


"Outliers" (Arthur Morgan x FEMALE reader)

by KimiHan



Category: reddeadredemption - Fandom, reddeadredemption2
Genre: F/M, Fanfic, Fanfiction, Kissing, Lime, Older Man/Younger Woman, Red Dead Redemption 2 Spoilers, Red Dead Redemption Spoilers, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Wildwest, arthurmorganisasnac, cowboy, maybesmutdunno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2019-10-07 00:51:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 58,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17355860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimiHan/pseuds/KimiHan
Summary: Y/n l/n was never much of a crook or an outlaw. She lived spoiled but now her comfort life is over and now she's gotta pull her own weight in the gang, of course, that doesn't make it any easier when most would undermind her and it's a bit harder to get along with her teacher, Arthur Morgan.





	1. "Can't Work Together"

A/n: So yep I made a fanfic about Red Dead Redemption 2 momma can't get enough of these DILFS! I'll stop I haven't finished the game but I'm aware of the ending however SPOILERS~

I dunno how long I'll write this because I have a lot already and I don't want to overwhelm myself and I've lost all shame at this rate WOOOOOOOHHHH

Y/n l/n was never much of a crook but of course, she had to learn. She had to pull her own weight for the gang...! Even if she was still young and new to it all...she only joined Dutch's gang a little bit over a month ago. She didn't have much of a choice either, a 22-year-old woman with no husband ain't much around here, she might as well just work in a saloon.

"Shit." Y/n grumbled, she accidentally dropped a box of Moonshine, she quickly went on her knees to pick up the mess she created before anyone sees, or more importantly, Susan Grimshaw. Susan was ruthless towards y/n, she would often say, "The youth is being wasted on you!"

"Now, now you dropped another box of Moonshine didn't ya?!" Susan's nagging voice yelled at y/n, who only let out a soft grumble nodding.

"Yes, Ms. Grimshaw I promise it won't happen again-"

"I don't understand why Dutch wanted you to join us! All you are in trouble, you're more trouble than you're worth girl!" She snapped at y/n, watching her pick up the broken glasses and putting it in the wooden box. Y/n only mocked her underneath her breath, hauling the large wooden box up and tossing it away, she glanced back at the camp, some days she wished she could do more but she wasn't good at much.

First thing is first she was spoiled in her youth, she came from a wealthy family and was married to a wealthy family when she was 16 years old, of course, that only spelled disaster especially when her husband was 10 years her senior. Growing up she only learned the 'proper' things of how a woman should act and learn, which was cooking, cleaning, taking [care](https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/174176174/write/678935016#) of the children, also most importantly how to please her husband.

Y/n walked past Micah, who also hated her presences, she wouldn't be lying if y/n didn't admit she was a bit scared of him. Even when they first met, all he did was threaten her even grabbed her with a blade to her neck and his hands touching her breast, either on accident or not.

"You better be earning your pay, _doll_." He snarled at her, taking a large sip from his beer, y/n looked over at him, growling softly to herself. She wanted to mouth off to him but she knew that wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do.

"I am, Mr. Bell." Y/n responded.

"Ah! Mrs. Jones-there ya are!" Dutch called to y/n with his arms out.

"Sir, please just call me Ms. L/n, Mrs. Jones was before my husband died." Y/n pleaded with him, Dutch only let out a loud laugh, putting his arm over y/n's shoulders and pulling her close to him.

"My apologies, _Ms. L/n_ but I was wondering if you could do something for me." He told her, y/n's eyes light up, this was her moment, she smiled, eager to help.

"Of course! Please tell me what is that you need me to do!" Y/n told him.

"Now that's the type of enthusiasm I like to see!" Dutch laughed loudly. "I want you to go into town with Mr. Morgan-" Y/n couldn't help but feel her excitement level drop, Arthur Morgan was a lot older than her and also very distant from her. He would talk to everyone in the camp but her, he would rarely make eye contact with her or speak to her, even when Dutch and he brought her to camp he didn't speak to her, not one bit. He would only grunt, nod, or shake his head as his way of communicating to her.

"B-But S-Sir-" Y/n stuttered.

"I know you two don't talk much but I can't think of anyone else that would be perfect for this job but you two!" Dutch tried to reassure y/n before making it to Arthur who was waiting for them underneath the shade, he noticed y/n and quickly became confused.

"N-Now hold up I thought you told me Mary-Beth was gonna work with me, not Mrs. Jones-"

"Ms. L/n." Dutch corrected him.

"I don't wanna work with her, she's nothing but a child-"

"All the more to train her young," Dutch added.

"I-I..." Arthur sighed. "This is a very dangerous job...are you sure she can handle it?"

Y/n quickly answered for herself. "Yes, I can. Don't forget Mr. Morgan I can speak too, so it'd be nice of you to not speak about me while I'm right here." Y/n snapped at him, Arthur growled shaking his head, he obviously didn't want her to join along.

"Now y/n, the plan is simple y/n you're a saloon worker and you're gonna wanna seduce this man with a top hat, he's a fellow that goes by the name Benedict Matthews, Mr. Morgan is gonna follow you both up the stairs and all interrogate him," Dutch explained to y/n and Arthur.

"You want me to seduce some random guy?" Y/n asked Dutch.

"Yes, you fit his turn-ons! You're young, beautiful, you have ([hair](https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/174176174/write/678935016#) color) hair and (eye color) eyes! You're practically a poster child for him!" He told y/n, who only nodded, shrugging. She had nothing to lose really, Dutch then turned his attention to Arthur. "Make sure we get everything that we need." He told him.

"Of course," Arthur responded.

"Ms. L/n go get cleaned up with Mary-Beth, you must look your best!" Dutch told y/n, she nodded getting back to Mary-Beth.

Once y/n was finished she found Arthur Morgan waiting for her on his horse, y/n had some makeup on to bait in the fish in. Y/n got up and sat down behind Arthur while he rode to the saloon in town.

"Don't do anything fancy, just leave the interrogating to me," Arthur told y/n.

"I'll try my best." Y/n muttered softly, she was getting butterflies in her [stomach](https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/174176174/write/678935016#), she rarely did anything like this...or ever. Once they got to the saloon Arthur hitched his horse while they both entered the saloon, Arthur then whispered into y/n's ear. "You see that feller in the bar with the top hat?" Y/n nodded. "That's him."

Y/n made her way to bar, she didn't know exactly to seduce him, she fixed her dress a bit, exposing a bit more skin, coughing a bit awkwardly. However already he took in the bait, Benedict leaned in closely to y/n, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"W-What's a pretty lady like you doing here?" He asked y/n, he was obviously drunk.

"J-Just tryna have some fun." Y/n responded trying to be as sexual as possible, leaning in closer to him. "Maybe you can satisfy me," y/n looked around and watched how the other girls caught their men she quickly copied them, licking the nape of his neck.

"My, my aren't you naughty." Benedict stuttered. "L-Let's a room shall we?" Y/n nodded, he paid off for a room as y/n led him upstairs, she looked over her shoulder to see Arthur following behind. Y/n smirked to herself, she couldn't believe how easy it was but just as they got into the room, she realized just how deep she was in. She gulped, hearing the door lock behind her and all of a sudden the drunken idiot pulled out a gun on her, he aimed it at her.

"Now, take off your clothes." He demanded y/n was a bit shocked at how forceful and how quickly things had escalated.

"N-Now...let's not harsh-"

"Clothes now." He interrupted her, y/n gulped, meekly nodding her head, to be in her undergarments and before long she was pinned on the bed, she gulped, her heart pumping out of her chest. She was nervous and scared, she didn't know what was taking Arthur so long, y/n tried her best to push him off.

"Off of me, you pig!" Y/n hurled at him.

"If you don't quit squirming I'm aboutta put one in between your head." He said putting the gun to her temple. "Now I'll be gentle-"

"Get the hell off of her!" Arthur snarled loudly pushing him off of y/n, she quickly pulled the covers to her chest, she watched in pure terror as Arthur beat him silly. Smashing his head against the dresser while blood splattered everywhere, y/n watched. Arthur was furious, anger was practically pouring out of him.

"Where's the debt?"

"I-I dunno what you're talking about-"

Arthur punched him in the face, so hard that a purple bruise already showed up. "First you get handsy with a woman that's old enough to be your daughter and now you're lying." Arthur then lifted him up by the collar of his shirt. "Money, now." He demanded.

"I-It's in my pocket! Please don't hurt me-" Arthur searched him, pulling out a money clip. He chuckled softly to himself, nodding before putting the money in his satchel.

"Well done, partner." He then slit the man's throat, y/n jerked up. Arthur then turned his attention to y/n. "What the hells the matter with you?"

"What?"

"You were being attacked and you didn't even lift a finger-"

"I-I...was too scared." Y/n grumbled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, avoiding eye contact with the cowboy, she then looked over at the body. "We better get going before people start to notice that he's been gone for too long." Y/n suggested walking out of the hotel room followed by Arthur, he sighed shaking his head.

"You need to learn how to protect yourself."Arthur snarled at y/n before mounting on his horse while he pulled y/n up.

"I know..." Y/n muttered softly to herself, letting out a soft sigh. "T-Thank you though."

"Don't think about it too much I only did it for the money." He told her bluntly, y/n's ears perked up, she could've sworn that he fought him first and asked questions later. She shook her head, maybe it was just her imagination. Once the duo made it to camp Dutch greeted them with open arms while Arthur split the money with y/n and himself then the gang's share.

"How did it go?" Dutch asked Arthur.

"The pay was good, however..." Arthur then glanced over at y/n. "She couldn't protect herself so we left a body there." He told Dutch bluntly.

"Ms. L/n, is this true?" Dutch asked y/n.

"Yes, it is..." Y/n admitted.

"We can't have that now, can we?" Dutch sighed, he then turned his attention to Arthur. "Morgan you're gonna teach the girl how to shoot-"

"HUH?!" Arthur questioned, he was obviously angry with his new task. "Now why do I gotta-"

"You're the best gunslinger in the whole gang, if anyone should teach her, it's you," Dutch told her bluntly. "Besides you two need to get along!" Dutch told him bluntly. "Startin' tomorrow every day in the morning when the sun-rises you teach that girl how to shoot, alright?" Arthur sighed, he knew it was useless to fight Dutch.

"Alright, alright." He grumbled as Dutch left the pair. He turned his attention back to y/n who only stood there silently. "How old are you, girl?"

"I'm 23." Y/n responded.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me..." He grumbled. "Jesus...teaching a fucking 22-year-old. I learned how to shoot when I was fucking 10..." Arthur was irraited and a bit more rash than he meant to be. 

"I didn't wanna work with you either cowboy." Y/n snapped at him, she was a bit angry at how Arthur was acting towards her.

"What did cha say, girl?"

"You heard me." Y/n snarled.

"Don't test me, woman." Arthur snarled at y/n, he towered over her, glaring at y/n, she only returned the glare it was insane how quickly Arthur could change y/n's emotions from grateful to hatred.

"Mrs. Jones-I mean Ms. L/n Pearson needs you to cook the meat," Sadie called to y/n, pulling her away from Arthur.

"Tch that damned woman." He growled, kicking the dirt with the tip of his boot.

"You started it," Charles said calmly.

"Now how the hell did I start it?" Arthur snapped at him.

"You have a short temper," Charles responded.

"She was the one who-" Arthur was interrupted by Molly calling him over. "Excuse me." He grumbled.

It was later on the night, y/n as in charge of preparing Arthur's bed as Susan's sick way of a punishment, while she was preparing his bed she couldn't help but notice a letter, she glanced over and read a name. "Mary Linton..." Y/n muttered to herself just then Arthur appeared behind her.

"What then hell are you doing?" He barked at her.

"N-Nothin' just preparing your bed!" Y/n quickly responded.

"Well, it's prepared now move." Arthur barked at her, y/n let out a long sigh, glaring at him, but just then she saw him without a hat on, she almost forgot how handsome he was underneath the dirt and blood. His blue eyes were almost enough for her to be star struck, as she was admiring him Arthur noticed.

"What the hell are you looking at _girl_?" He snarled at her, he was mocking her the way he called her girl, obviously he wasn't amused by y/n's games and sad excuses. 

"N-Nothing!" Y/n quickly responded turning away from him, she tried to calm her red cheeks. taking in deep breaths before saying. "G-Goodnight Mr. Morgan."

"Night..." He grumbled back, y/n then made her way to her sleeping bag and drifted to sleep, after all, tomorrow she had a long day ahead of her. 


	2. "Alike"

Y/n groaned, she felt something hitting her side. Her hazy hues slowly came to she looked up to see Arthur towering over her. He kicked her once more on the side, she hissed loudly in pain.

“Get up girl!” Arthur hissed at her, y/n glared at him.

“What?”

“It’s time.” He grumbled, y/n looked up from her sleeping bag and saw the sun was already out, she let out a soft sigh, before groaning her way out of her sleeping bag. She stretched her back, just then Arthur tossed her a rifle, she barely caught it.

“Hey!” Y/n hissed loudly at him, glaring at him.

“Are you awake now?” He asked her a bit sassily, y/n sighed, shrugging.

“I guess, now Mr. Morgan where we going?” Y/n asked him while Arthur mounted his horse with y/n following closely behind him. Arthur said a quick command to his horse, glancing over his shoulder to glance at y/n.

“First of all we are gonna start easy, I’m gonna teach you how I was taught. Which is bottles, I got some empty beer bottles in my satchel.” Arthur explained to her, y/n nodded. Arthur knew that y/n was gonna be completely new to the basics of a gun, of course, he had over 30 years of experience with guns, so much so he became the best gunslinger in the whole gang. Still, though, he wasn’t looking forward to teaching y/n, after all, they clash a lot even before their first mission. Arthur sighed, shaking his head. _‘I dunno what the hell Dutch thinks he’s doin.’’_

He then came to a stop, it was a field that was a bit away from the camp to make sure they don’t attract any unwanted attention. Arthur got off as y/n followed quickly suit before long Arthur was setting up the bottles with y/n. Arthur then pulled out his rifle from his horse’s cargo, y/n had a big grin on her face, she would be lying if she said that never wanted to shoot a gun. Arthur noticed this, pulling the rifle away from her, putting up a finger towards her. “Now, now, this ain’t a toy girl.” He scolded her.

“I know Mr. Morgan!” Y/n sneered, folding her arms above her chest. “I just…never touched one before and well what can I say I’m excited.”

“Now, now that won’t do Ms. L/n, you’re in the gang now you’ll have to learn how to shoot a gun and defend yourself.” He told her bluntly, staring her down. “That’s the choice you made when you joined us.”

“I know Mr. Morgan.” Y/n sighed, putting her hands over her hips. “Now are you gonna teach me how to shoot or scold me again?”

“Both.” Arthur sneered, he then motioned y/n to come closer to him which y/n obeyed, she went in close and watched closely at how he was handling the gun. “Now, first of all, don’t be scared of it, it’s just a thing nothing more, nothing less. When you shoot you gotta be ready for the force when you shoot, hold the rifle tightly with _both_ hands.” He told y/n bluntly, while he held onto the rifle. “Make sure you know where you’re aiming at and try not to get your face to close to it, cause it will jump back.” He explained to y/n. “Then once you got your target, you shoot.” Just then Arthur pulled the trigger hitting a glass bottle that was in front of him. “Got it?”

“Seems easy enough.”

“‘Course it is, I could even teach Jack how to shoot and he’s 4,” Arthur responded a bit sassily, handing the rifle to y/n, she made a fake laugh before snatching it from him.

“You’re funny Mr. Morgan, I wonder how you don’t have a lady.” She responded back sassily while she gripped onto the gun and positioned herself to aim at the bottle, little did she know she hit a small nerve in Arthur who only responded shabbily.

“Maybe you should ask yourself that,” He responded, she only chuckled in response. Before y/n could shoot Arthur stopped her. "You ain't doing it right." He grumbled.

"What?"

"Your body isn't turned right," Arthur responded, he then positioned her. Y/n couldn't help but feel her heart race a bit, his chest touching her back while he turned y/n's waist around. His calloused, rough hands touching her bare hand, moving her arm a bit. She looked away from Arthur, just to make sure things aren't any more awkward than it was, he was awfully close that y/n could hear him breathing, his heart pumping.

"A-Are we done now?" Y/n stuttered. 

"There, your body was all kinds of strange," Arthur told her, stepping back, y/n let out a soft sigh of relief, and returned to focus on the bottle. Shutting an eye to try and get a better aim but before she could even think about pulling the trigger Arthur smacked the back of her head, he stopped her once again. 

“Hey!” Y/n hissed at him.

“Why the hell are you closing one eye for?”

“To get a better shot-“

“No! You don’t close an eye when you’re shooting.”

“Why not?”

“What if someone comes from a different angle? And just like that, you’re dead cause you didn’t even notice ‘em! Ms. L/n this ain’t like rocket science there isn’t no trick to shooting a gun, you just aim and shoot.” Arthur explained to her, y/n sighed nodding. She wanted to mouth off to him but she had to respect her elders and teachers, after all, if anything Arthur knew what he was doing and what he was talking about, all y/n knew was how to be the ‘perfect’ wife.

“You’re right…I’m sorry.” Y/n let out a soft sigh. “I just…never done this before.” She said softly, Arthur looked at her a bit shocked at how calm y/n became, or even the fact that she apologized.

“It’s alright just don’t over think it,” Arthur responded.

Y/n nodded, taking a long deep breath staring down the glass bottle slowly pushing her finger on the trigger. Her heart was racing, her body was trembling, she then exhaled and pushed the trigger, just like that she shot her first gun. The glass bottle exploded into a million tiny pieces, y/n couldn't help but smile to herself while Arthur patted her on the back.

“See it ain’t that hard!” He told her with a big grin on his face.

“Y-You’re right, the force though, that ain’t something to play with.” Y/n responded.

“Now step back a couple of feet more and shoot the next one, maybe next lesson you’ll shoot something moving,” Arthur told y/n.

“Like animals?”

“Animals? You crazy girl? That ain’t until lesson five!”

“L-Lesson five? What lesson are we on right now?”

“Lesson one,” Arthur responded with a smirk, y/n couldn’t help but groan loudly.

 

It was later on in the morning, y/n and Arthur just got back from their little lesson. Quickly the duo was split, Arthur going off into Valentine with Javier to speak to a fellow named Josiah there. Y/n, however, was free as usual, she was with the other ladies preparing the beds. Mary-Beth then decided to speak to y/n, wanting to stir up a conversation.

“So Mrs. Jones-I-I means Ms. L/n, how do you like it here so far?” She asked y/n with a small smile.

“I-I don’t mind it I guess then again I’ve only started riding with ya’ll for a month now.” Y/n explained.

“That’s true Ms. L/n, well I enjoy your company you seem like a nice young woman!” Mary-Beth responded, y/n laughed a bit.

“Please stop with the formalities ma’am you’re older than me just call me y/n.” Y/n explained to Mary-Beth. “But I’m glad one person appreciates me being here, Ms. Grimshaw and Mr. Morgan…not so much.” Y/n grumbled.

“I’m sure they care about you Ms-I mean y/n, especially Mr. Morgan.”

“Doubt that... Mr. Morgan and I don’t talk to each other and when we do we just fight.” Y/n grumbled.

“He’s just a bit old-school.”

“Too old-school for me, all but yesterday he wouldn’t talk to me and now he’s just an ass!” Y/n growled.

“I’m sure it ain’t all bad-“

“Now, now Ms. L/n I know I don’t hear you yammering about again!” Susan called to her with her hands over her hips. “Just remember girl you ain’t worth much around here but a maid.”

“I know Ms. Grimshaw, you tell me almost every day!” Y/n called to her, she then decided to turn her attention to Mary-Beth who was working on Javier’s campsite. Y/n looked over her shoulder just to make sure that the old hag, Susan was nowhere to be near before returning to her conversation with Mary-Beth.

“I just wish Mr. Morgan would just talk to me more, just now we started talking and it’s like talking to a wall.” Y/n grumbled.

“Well y/n I think Mr. Morgan is a kind man, at least since I’ve known him which has been a long time now,” Mary-Beth responded.

“I hope you’re right…” Y/n grumbled underneath her breath and just like that the ladies were finished. Charles then called y/n over, he was sharpening his hunting knife.

“Y/n, I think it’s time you learned how to hunt,” Charles told y/n bluntly, putting the knife in his pocket.

“I hope you know I can’t exactly shoot a gun Mr. Smith.” Y/n told Charles bluntly, following him to mount with him on his horse. Charles chuckled, he found y/n’s excuse a bit amusing.

“That’s why Arthur is teaching you,” Charles told her bluntly. “however I’m just gonna teach you how to track, Dutch and Micah were telling me that I should teach you a couple of skills,” Charles explained.

“‘Course Micha said that.” Y/n growled underneath her breath.

“I take it you don’t like him?”

“Well, he ain’t my favorite camper.” Y/n responded half-jokingly.

“I don’t like him either.” Charles agreed. “Look at that animal prints,” Charles said pointing at the ground, y/n titled her head to the side, she couldn’t see them.

“How can you tell?” She asked him, Charles got off the horse while y/n followed him off, she bent down looking at the ground trying to look for the tracks. Charles traced his finger over the very faint prints, y/n followed his finger just to see very small ones.

“See that? It’s hard to tell but it’s there, plus there's some sticks and branches around it.” Charles added. “They’re small too, probably a rabbit.”

“A rabbit? We should catch something bigger like a deer or something.”

“Thinking big, just like Arthur.” Charles joked, y/n quickly turned sour sending him a playful glare.

“I didn’t think we had something in common.”

“You’re a funny girl.”

“So everyone says…” Y/n said softly.

 

It was later on in the day and turns out Arthur and Javier got a man named Sean back. Of course, there was a celebration to celebrate the man’s return to the gang.

“I don’t believe we’ve met!” The Irishman said to y/n, greeting her. “The names Sean’s MacGuire, the most handsome man you’ll ever meet!” He joked with a thick Irish accent, y/n chuckled, she liked this guy already, a man with good laughs.

“My name is Y/n l/n.” Y/n introduced herself.

“A lovely name that is!” Sean said with a big grin. “Now if you’ll excuse me I must go the whiskey is calling me!” He said with a big grin, y/n nodded waving him off, she noticed Arthur walking away from the party. Y/n never noticed just how much of a wallflower he is but so is she, y/n herself was already drifting away from the party, sitting down on a chair watching it from a distance, while Javier kept the party alive by singing. Y/n noticed Jack walking towards her, she smiled at the young boy.

“Ma’am, why are you here by yourself?” He asked her.

“I ain’t too big on parties, Jack.” Y/n responded.

“Really? Just like Uncle Arthur!” He said with a big grin.

“I guess so.” Y/n chuckled softly, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“You don’t wanna come and dance?” Jack asked her.

“No thanks, Jack. I’m a bit tired, you go on ahead.”

“Okay…!” Jack responded walking away from y/n, who only chuckled softly to herself, y/n glanced back over at Arthur, he was writing in his journal. Y/n smiled to herself, she never thought of him as much of a writer, he seemed at peace with himself. She didn’t catch herself starring until someone blocked her view of Arthur, y/n looked up a bit sheepishly to only see a drunken Karen and Sean. Her ears perked up, it was almost impossible to not catch their conversation.

“You only love me when we’re drunk!” Karen shouted at Sean.

“Well you’re always awfully superior when you’re sober,” Sean responded.

“C’mon then,” Karen said holding onto Sean’s wrist the two started giggling like school girls, walking into John’s tent. Y/n’s eyes widen, her curiosity killed her while she slowly walked by the tent, her face quickly turned pink, she overheard them having sex, a couple of moans here and there. Y/n quickly put her hand over her mouth, silencing her gasps stepping back in pure shock. Just then she crashed into someone, she quickly turned around to see Arthur.

“I-I’m sorry!” Y/n quickly apologized.

“The hell are you doing girl? Walking around John’s tent?” He asked her.

“E-Er…n-no reason Mr. Morgan!” Y/n responded, Arthur looked at y/n, her face still red and she seemed nervous, he sneered. Folding his arms above his chest, raising an eyebrow, he clearly didn’t believe y/n.

“Come here.” He grumbled walking towards John’s tent, y/n’s eyes widen, she didn’t know what to say walking up behind him.

“I-I wouldn’t do that-“ Y/n was interrupted by Arthur stopping, he had the same reaction as y/n, his blue eyes widen, he quickly stepped away from the tent.

“Why the hell was you creepin’ around ‘em? The sick bastards…” He muttered the last part to himself y/n chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck.

“S-Sorta just happened…I feel bad for John though.”

“You and me both,” Arthur responded, he sighed shaking his head in disapproval. “I’m heading to bed…” He then walked past y/n to his bed.

“Good night…Mr. Morgan.” Y/n muttered softly to him.


	3. "Halfway There"

_“Come out!”_

 

_“We have you surrounded!”_

_Y/n slowly came to, bags underneath her eyes she looked around her bedroom to see a bunch of torchlights from the outside of her manor. She grumbled softly to herself, rubbing her eyes, she looked out the window and saw a bunch of the guards shooting at them, gunfire quickly escalated. Y/n’s eyes widen a bullet almost shot her, barely grazing her cheek, she stepped back away from the window quickly. Her heart was pumping out her chest, her body was trembling._

_“J-Joseph get up!” Y/n quickly shook her sleeping husband, he stared at her a bit confused. His blue eyes staring at her terrified ones, he titled his head to the side._

_“What’s wrong with ya woman? Did you see something?” Just then a fire started in their bedroom, quickly her husband got up from his bed and grabbed onto y/n’s wrist. “C’mon we outta get out of here.” He told her, y/n nodded running out their bedroom with him. The duo continued panting loudly just then the hallway was cut off by a trio of men with guns._

_“That’s the man!” They shouted pointing at Joseph._

_“Shit,” Joseph growled underneath his breath, he turned around to see that they were surrounded. Sweat trailed down y/n’s face, time was going by slow, she held her hands up to surrender while they slowly started to close in on them. Y/n’s heart was pounding out her chest, her fingers trembling, she was frozen in place. Before any words could be spoken Joseph threw y/n at the men and he ran out. Y/n gasped loudly, a bullet shot through her arm, her body was flung down at the ground._

_“Quick get him!” The men shouted running over her body, y/n coughed loudly rolling on her side, gripping onto her wound, parts of her face being covered by the pieces of her hair, she grunted loudly, trying to crawl to the stairs, her blood staining the wallpaper._

Y/n gasped loudly, sitting up quickly. She looked around, sweat trailing down her face, she noticed that she was still at camp and it was almost the morning. She groaned softly, looking over at Arthur who was still asleep. She got up, the cold air grazing her skin, she looked over at the pot that was over a slowly dying fire.

“I should make him some coffee.” Y/n muttered softly to herself.

It was later on in the morning and y/n made Arthur some coffee as well as packing her bag with a bunch of empty glass bottles, she walked up to Arthur and patted him on the forehead. He grunted swatting his arm around, y/n rose an eyebrow.

“Mr. Morgan.” Y/n called his name, but no response, y/n let out a long sigh and smacked him on the forehead with much more force, so much force a slapping noise came out of it. Arthur growled loudly getting up quickly, holding onto his throbbing red forehead, hissing in pain.

“Shit.” He growled.

“It’s time Mr. Morgan.” Y/n said bluntly, Arthur looked up to her, glaring at her, shaking his head.

“Alright, let’s get the stuff ready-“

“Already done sir.” Y/n told him confidently and then handed him his coffee. “I made you some coffee, thought it would help you wake up.” Arthur looked at the coffee for a moment and back at y/n, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s the special occasion?”

“Didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to be kind.” Y/n growled at him, shaking her head going with Arthur to his horse. “Besides I’m tired of riding with ya, I outta buy a horse.” She grumbled.

“Why not use the money you earned on the mission we took?”

“That’s what I’m planin’ on doin’.” Y/n responded they both got up on Arthur’s horse. “After our shooting lesson, I’m gonna go by the stables.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes, you probably wanna go back to camp, don’t cha?” Y/n asked him bluntly.

“Well yeah…”

“Then go on back to camp and then I’ll go by the stables.” Y/n responded Arthur sighed.

“I-I’ll take you there-“

“It’s fine, I don’t need you to.”

“I’m tryna help you here, girl-“

“It’s fine, I don’t need it.”

Arthur growled, shaking his head. He remembered what Hosea would tell him, to always respect women, offer them a hand even if you don’t exactly like ‘em. He clenched onto his saddle, looking over his shoulder to look at y/n.

“You know, you’re really are somethin’ different.” He growled at her.

“Well thank you-“

“It ain’t a compliment.” Arthur interpreted her.

“You ain’t the first to say that.” Y/n grumbled underneath her breath, but before Arthur could question it they already came to their little shooting range, y/n let out a long sigh and jumped off the horse with Arthur following her. Y/n took out her bag and started to set up the glass bottles, Arthur watched her, she as working quickly cause she wanted to shoot the gun already. “What’s the next lesson, Professor Morgan?”

“Don’t call me that,” Arthur grumbled. “Now you’re gonna learn how to shoot the bottles-“

“-Again?”

“Wait ’till I’m finished damn it, with different guns, same thing, as a rifle but with revolvers, you can do a whole lot more, shotguns you gotta get closer and lastly scope rifle.” He told her, pulling out the guns from his horse cargo.

“What about bows?”

“I’m shooting you how to shoot guns, not bows. If you wanna shoot a bow go to Charles for that.” Arthur told her bluntly.

“Charles taught me how to track!” Y/n said with a big grin.

“He a better teacher than me, I take it?”

“A whole lot better Mr. Morgan.” Y/n responded with a smirk he chuckled, shaking his head, tossing her his revolver.

“I don’t doubt it, he taught me how to use a bow.” He told her. “Now I’m gonna show you how to fan the hammer.”

“Fan the hammer?”

“It’s when all the bullets that are loaded are fired rapidly, now you gotta be careful when you do it, cause a bullet might jump back at cha.” He explained to her, terror quickly rose onto y/n’s faces.

“Really?”

“Nah I’m just joking, but for real though it’s dangerous.” He told her, he then positioned y/n’s hand on the revolver and showing her the hand movements she was supposed to do.

After an hour or so of practicing the fan the hammer and her learning how to shoot with a revolver and a shotgun, it was time for the scoped rifle. She was almost a whole mile away from the bottles. Y/n looked up to Arthur a bit skeptical.

“How hell am I supposed to shoot all the way over here?” Y/n asked him raising an eyebrow. “How is this gonna help me or the gang in combat?”

“Cause snipers is the most dangerous thing out there, you have all the eyes and you can take pot-shots,” Arthur explained to her, y/n sighed shrugging.

“I just think I would prefer to be more into the action.” Y/n explained.

“Sometimes you don’t have to be in the action to help.” Arthur tried to reason with her. “Now just shoot the goddamn gun.” He grumbled at her.

“Okay, okay.” Y/n muttered softly, looking to the scope, the scope zoomed up on the bottles, she shut one eye and shot the scope, and just like that it was smashed.

“Shoot the other one,” Arthur told her, y/n obeyed shooting the rest of them, he then took out his binoculars to look closer, he nodded with a grin. “Not a bad shot.” He muttered, quickly he hid his grin, looking away from y/n. He coughed awkwardly and turned back to y/n, nodding. “I reckon the lesson is over, we outta get back to the bottles.”

“You go on ahead I’m gonna head to the stables.” Y/n told him.

“Are you sure? It ain’t much of a trouble to take you there.”

“It’s fine, besides it ain’t that long of a walk.”

“I-I actually had to go into Valentine myself!” Arthur accidentally blurted out, his eyes widen, smacking his face sighing out of frustration.

“You do?”

“Y-Yeah I was gonna buy some things for my horse.” He told y/n.

“Oh…alright then.” Y/n and Arthur went back to their shooting range, picking up their things and then going on Arthur’s horse for the short ride to Valentine, y/n glanced over him, she knew he was old based on how everyone else calls him old, but he looked rather young.

Amazing light blue eyes, a strong body, he looked youthful. It kinda made y/n wonder how hasn’t he found a lady.

“Mr. Morgan?”

“What?”

“How old are you?”

“Why you askin’?”

“Just…curious…” Y/n muttered softly.

“Old enough to be your father,” Arthur responded.

“How’s that supposed to help?”

“Alright, alright don’t get aggressive with me, 43.” He responded.

“43?”

“Yes now stop talking, it’s more peaceful when you don’t talk,” Arthur told y/n bluntly, looking away from y/n. She only sent him a silent glare, shaking her head, she wanted to talk to him but she didn’t wanna annoy him too much, but she couldn’t help but smile at herself, at least she got him talking, even if it was for a little bit.

Once they got into Valentine, Arthur dropped y/n off at the stable.

“I’ll be at the general store.” He told her. “Once you get your horse you can go ahead and get back to camp, do whatever girls like you do.” He told her bluntly, y/n rose an eyebrow, folding her arms above her chest.

“Like what? Listen to Ms. Grimshaw all day saying how useless I am?” Y/n asked him rhetorically, Arthur laughed at y/n’s half-empty joke.

“Sure!” He said with a big grin.

“I was joking Mr. Morgan.” Y/n grumbled.

“I know you were.” Arthur chuckled.

“You know…lately, you’ve been speaking more often to me.” Y/n responded with a small smile that was creeping up on her face. “I guess you ain’t so hard Mr. Morgan.” Y/n told him with a cocky look on her face. It was almost like she was halfway there with him, slowly bure surely they were getting to know each other. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Arthur growled at her. "I still find you about as annoying as Micha, 'cept he's more of an asshole." 

“Alright, alright..” Y/n then waved him off and went into the stables to pick her horse, she walked into the stable looking around the horses just then the stableman came by her.

“Hi, there miss, looking for a horse?”

“Yes, I am.” Y/n responded.

“Oh, wonderful lemme show you what’s in stables, follow me here.” He said leading y/n to the horses. “These horses here are for sale, only the best prices here ma’am!” He said with a grin, y/n looked at the horses but one caught her eye, she pointed at the horse.

“How much for this one?” She asked him, petting the horse.

“That beauty? He’s $15.00.” He told her.

“15?” Y/n then took out her money she had 20.

“Yes, ma’am she comes with a saddle and everything.” Y/n smiled looking at the horse, nuzzling her face onto it. She then handed him 15, it was almost like love at first sight, the horse was a large horse, it was obviously a warhorse, it’s coat was black and 4 white socks. The horse was calm and had a kind look to him, his dark brown eyes looking into y/n's (eye color) eyes. His long black mane touching her face. Y/n couldn't say no to him, it was like she could trust him with her life already. 

“I’ll take him.” She told him.

“He’s a fine horse ma’am lemme just get you both set up.” He told her, y/n nodded, taking the horse out the stable and following the stableman and filled out the paperwork, she decided to name the horse, (horse name). It suited him, y/n had a big grin on her face, leading the horse out, to her surprise she saw Arthur waiting for her outside the stable.

“That’s a good looking horse.” Arthur complimented it. “How much did he cost?”

“15.” Y/n responded.

“A good price…” Arthur said with a grin, nodding.

“What brings you here? I thought you would be at camp.” Y/n told him bluntly.

“Just wanted to see the horse, that’s all.” He told her bluntly.

“Well, here he is, (horse name), the best damn man I ever met.” She said with a grin, patting her horse.

“How much money you got left?”

“5 bucks.” Y/n responded. “I’m gonna go buy some new clothes, this little skirt thing ain’t doing it no more.” Y/n told him bluntly.

“It looks fine to me-“ Arthur was interrupted by Lenny riding in, he looked panicked.

“Arthur!” He called to him, he then noticed y/n but he looked too panicked to say anything. He looked like he just saw a ghost or almost came to death. His face was becoming pale, sweat rolling down his face, he was panting loudly.

“What is it, Lenny?” Arthur asked him.

“They got him..!” Lenny told him in between breaths. 

“They got who?” Arthur asked him, he was growing concerned, furrowing his thick brown eyebrows. 

“T-They got Micha!” He panted out, Arthur growled, shaking his head.

“C’mon let’s go tell Dutch.” He told him, riding out with y/n following closely behind the two men. Arthur didn't look worried but he looked annoyed, grumbling underneath his breath. "God damn Micha!"  


	4. "Sweeterman"

Y/n, Lenny, and Arthur rode back to camp. Lenny still looks like he just saw a ghost, panting, he was trembling from fear. Y/n glanced over at Lenny, she ultimately felt bad, he wasn't a feller that could get scared easily. Lenny looked distracted, staring into the trees.

"L-Lenny...are you okay?" Y/n asked him, glancing over at him.

"H-Huh?" Lenny questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"You look terrified." Y/n told him worriedly.

"I am! I-I'm sorry I-I didn't notice you when you were with Arthur...I-I just...z-zoned out..." Lenny responded, shaking his head, trying to keep his mind cleared.

"It's fine." Y/n nodded, understanding his situation after all Lenny's done very dangerous things, it wasn't uncommon for a situation that was worse to go worser.

"What the hell happened, Lenny?" Arthur asked him.

"Micha...damn it..." Lenny grumbled, shaking his head, just then they made to camp. Everyone was doing their own things, Abigail was with Jack playing a game, while Tilly was speaking with Mary-Beth. Dutch was in the camp at his tent, he noticed the trio riding in.

"Lenny? You look like you've just seen a damn ghost!" Dutch called to Lenny, walking towards them. Lenny mounted off his horse and walked up to Dutch, panting trying to get his sentences together. He looked up to Dutch, terrified, sweat rolling down his face.

"T-They got Micha up in Strawberry...there was talk of hanging him! They almost hanged me too...but I got away." He told Dutch, he was still in a daze from the idea of himself being hanged.

"Poor boy..." Y/n muttered softly, trying to calm him down she put her hand over her shoulder. "You're fine now Lenny." She tried to reassure him.

"Somebody bring the damn boy a drink!" Dutch called to the campers, quickly Mary-Beth got a drink for Lenny, giving it to him, Lenny thanked her.

"Now why the hell are they gonna hang Micha for?" Javier asked Lenny.

"He was drinking again...you know how he is when he's drunk! He got into a nasty bar-fight, killed a man!" Lenny informed Dutch.

"Gawd-Damn it Micha..." Arthur muttered underneath his breath.

"Don't worry son, we will get him back," Dutch told Lenny, putting his arm over his shoulder.

"I wonder why ya'll acting like that's a bad thing." Y/n muttered underneath her breath. Micha and her never once got along, she hated him with every fiber inside of her, however, she had to respect him. He was riding with them for 6 months, y/n has only been with them for a month. Micha would often flirt with her and the ladies, say disgusting things around them, he saw himself above them. Y/n and Sadie, however, was at the top of the list for him to harass mostly because y/n would never say anything back and Sadie would mostly curse him out.

"Whatcha you say, girl?" Dutch growled at y/n, who only played dumb, shrugging.

"Nothin'-"

"Because you wanna get a big mouth about Micha you're gonna go get him Strawberry with Arthur," Dutch told her bluntly.

"What?" Both Arthur and y/n questioned.

"Why me?" Arthur asked Dutch.

"Because he would do the same for you," Dutch told him bluntly.

"Now I doubt that..." Arthur grumbled, he then glanced over at y/n shaking his head.

"S-Sir I'd just be deadweight! I barely just started to learn how to shoot a gun-" Y/n was interrupted by Susan.

"I agree, she's deadweight but she can't handle herself, besides that's another baggage Mr. Morgan is gonna have to carry!" She tried to reason with Dutch with Arthur nodding in agreement.

"I don't care, figure it out!" Dutch responded, obviously annoyed before turning his attention to Lenny. "Now Arthur take the boy to have a drink, he's gonna need it."

"Alright, Lenny..." Arthur grumbled. "Let's get up the horses-"

"I dunno if I can drink right now..." Lenny muttered getting on his horse, the two men rode off to Valentine in order to join themselves, y/n sighed. She had no idea how she could help with getting Micha out of jail. Y/n looked over to Dutch who looked like he was already fed up with her, y/n growled walking up to Mr. Pearson.

"Mr. Pearson! Lemme help you with the stew." Y/n grumbled, wrapping an apron around her waist.

"Alright Ms. L/n, I always liked your cooking!" Mr. Pearson said with a big grin, y/n chuckled grabbing onto the fresh rabbit that Arthur just brought to camp yesterday.

"I may have lived easily, but if there's one thing that I know is how to cook." Y/n responded with a big grin on her face.

 

Lenny and Arthur went into the saloon, already drinking a bunch of drinks. The two men quickly got drunk, Arthur laughing loudly, slamming his glass down the counter, Lenny leaned up against him, slapping his back.

"Arthurrrrrrrrrrrrr." Lenny slurred the last r in his name, Arthur looked at him raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Don't cha think most of the women in camp pretty?" Lenny asked him, Arthur laughed loudly shaking his head.

"N-Now I dunno if I can agree-"

"Oh yeah..? W-Well who would you rather have a ride your cowboy stick?" Lenny asked him, drunkenly, leaning up against him, the two men then started to laugh at the way Lenny named Arthur's penis, 'cowboy stick'. He was starting to hiccup, he was unbalanced, leaning on Arthur and the counter. "M-Mary-Beth or Y/n?"

"Y/n!" Arthur responded.

"O-Oh her? Do ya...like her or _somethang_? You always avoid her when you can, m-me and Javiey were thinking that." Lenny told Arthur smacking his back, who only shook his head.

"She too young for me..." Arthur looked up to see Lenny had disappeared. "S-Shit..." He grumbled, his eyesight was becoming hazy, he was tripping on nothing walking around the bar, calling Lenny's name. "LENNY?!" He shouted, walking up to the stairs of the saloon, asking people around but then he found him upstairs. "LENNY!" Arthur said with a big grin, all of a sudden they transported back at the counter, Lenny then got into a fight with a bigger man.

"Get off of him you animal!" Arthur snarled loudly, pulling the man off of him, just before they could lie a punch on him they started to dance together with a few other men and the bartender.

It was a crazy night, to say the least.

Arthur slowly came to, his eyesight still hazy, he was peeing behind the saloon, he groaned loudly rubbing his face. "S-Shit..." He grumbled, he had a groundbreaking headache.

"THERE HE IS!" The police shouted.

"DAMN IT!" Arthur quickly put it away and started to run for it with the police chasing him, they caught him because he missed the jump over the fence, they quickly appended him.

 

It was later on in the morning the next day, y/n noticed that Arthur hasn't shown up yet, Lenny already came by in the middle of the night but Arthur was nowhere to be found. Y/n grew worried, looking around the camp she couldn't find him, she sighed softly, shaking her head. She already had a feeling that he probably was still in Valentine, either drunk at a storefront or in jail.

"Where you going?" Sadie called to y/n.

"Looking for Arthur." y/n responded, mounting her horse.

"Why?"

"I want my shooting lessons to be consistent." Y/n responded bluntly, waving. "I'll bring him back!" She then rode off to Valentine, the ride wasn't too long before she knew she already made it to Valentine, she roamed around the streets and asked around for Arthur Morgan until she finally caught her beak.

"A drunk feller with a darkie?" A man asked her, y/n hated the way they called Lenny but she didn't want to say anything.

"Yes...he is a bit on the older side, he's real tall and was here in Valentine last night at the saloon, h-he had blue eyes." Y/n described Arthur. "You seen him?"

"I reckon he's in jail, the crazy bastard tried to kill a man!"

"God damn it, Arthur..." Y/n growled underneath her breath.

"What are you? Her daughter or somethin'?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I am." Y/n lied. "Thank you for your help mister!" She thanked him, she went to the jail at Valentine, she walked in and saw the officer and Arthur barely awake in a cell, he quickly got up noticing y/n.

"Y-Y/n?" He questioned.

"How can I help you, girl?" The officer asked y/n.

"I-I'm here for my daddy." Y/n lied, pointing at Arthur. "I was wondering if I could bail him out? My daddy is an idiot drunk that drinks too much for his own good, me and momma have been trying to keep an eye on his drinking." Y/n lied through her teeth. "I am so sorry for any inconvenience he may have caused."

"Listen you seem like a sweet girl but your daddy almost killed a man." The officer explained to y/n, she nodded.

"I know and I am sorry sir, you see.." Y/n then leaned in against the officer's ear, whispering. "You see...my daddy ain't too good, he still thinks he's in the war." She told him, she then leaned back down."Please mister." She begged him, with the most innocent and guilty eyes. "I promise he won't ever be in that cell ever again. You would be doing me a great favor...I have money too!"

"Alright, alright girl." The officer sighed getting Arthur out of his cell. "You are lucky you have such a sweet daughter, you're free to go." He told him bluntly.

"E-Er yeah...thanks y/n," Arthur grumbled, rubbing his head, y/n smiled at the officer thanking him.

"How much for the bail?"

"5 dollars." Y/n nodded, paying the man thanking him once more the duo left the jail. Arthur looked at y/n a bit confused as to aha the hell had just happened.

"What the hell did you tell him?" He asked her.

"That me, your sweet innocent daughter was taking care of her crazy old drunken father which is you." Y/n told him bluntly, shrugging. "Now I ain't got no money."

"Why the hell did you come for me?" Arthur asked her.

"You know a 'thank you' would be nice, besides I still need 'em shooting lessons if I ever wanna be anything for the gang." Y/n told him bluntly, she failed to mention the fact that she was worried for him.

"'Course, Lenny at camp?"

"Yes, he is, Jesus how much did ya'll drink? Everyone has been telling me how you and Lenny almost killed a man!" Y/n told him bluntly.

"If you want me, to be honest, I don't remember much of it.." Arthur grumbled rubbing his forehead. "I have a pounding headache too-"

"Well you're hungover, you're gonna ride with me back to camp once we get there we can get ready for my lesson 3!" Y/n said with a big grin on her face.

"Listen I don't want chu on my mission to get Micha's dumb ass outta jail." Arthur and y/n then mounted up on her horse while she rode him back to camp.

"But Dutch-"

"But nothing I don't wanna be responsible for another life, look you're gonna stay back and stay out of the way cause if it's Micha it's gonna be a god damn bloodbath!" Arthur told y/n bluntly. "You are a stupid girl that barely knows how to handle a gun, you'll die within seconds and I don't wanna carry another body on my horse." He told her bluntly, y/n sighed nodding.

"I know Mr. Morgan." Y/n grumbled underneath her breath. "Maybe I could be your medic?"

"Medic?"

"Yea, I learned a few tricks here and there back at the manor." Y/n told him bluntly. "I ain't too bad neither, I stitched up my wound and took out the bullet." Y/n said with a big grin on her face, Arthur looked a bit upset at the way she was describing her previous condition, glancing at her side, he still remembers when he saw her, all the blood all over the walls, when Micha was getting too handsy he saw the bullet wound, it was badly stitched up but she stopped the bleeding.

"I guess." He grumbled. "I dunno why you don't just stay back be our medic we ain't got one-"

"With all due respect Mr. Morgan I wanna do more for the gang, I wanna earn Mr. Van Der Linde's trust and respect and get Ms. Grimshaw off my back." Y/n responded.

"Saving lives not enough?"

"I ain't-a doctor Mr. Morgan." Y/n snarled at him, shaking her head. "You don't understand, c'mon let's just get to camp and start the lessons." Y/n didn't wanna talk about it anymore, Arthur thought it was the best as well, she seemed to be getting aggressive and distant.

 

It was not long before they go their things, y/n's lesson 3 was on learning which guns were best for what situations and she started to shoot at further distances, her best gun was by far the scoped rifle. It was almost like her natural born talent like she was born for this. Arthur couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed for showing her this gun, he didn't want her to kill anyone or end up like him, a ghost.

Y/n and Arthur went back to camp, Lenny looked a lot better from his long night of drinking with Arthur. Dutch then met up with the duo, calling them out from his tent, Arthur sighed shaking his head walking in.

"What's up Dutch?" Arthur asked him.

"You should go get Micha today, we need him for something," Dutch informed them.

"Alright, alright," Arthur grumbled shaking his head, he glanced over at y/n, he looked like a bit hesitant. "Alright girl, go get your horse and pack up." He grumbled softly.

"Of course Mr. Morgan." Y/n then went to the Hoesa asking for some meds, Arthur turned his attention to Dutch shaking his head.

"Dutch you can't just be doing this, making me take her with me everywhere I go, can't even take a shit without you telling me she has to come with me," Arthur grumbled.

"Well you two don't get along and I can't have that, besides Arthur _you_ were the one who wanted to save her, _you_ were the one who said you'll make sure she'll do right, now she's _your_ responsibility, don't forget that," Dutch told him a low menacing voice, Arthur sighed, clicking his tongue in frustration, walking away from him. Y/n was already packed up and already on her horse, Arthur sighed, he didn't know what the hell he was gonna do with her. He mounted onto his horse and handed y/n the scoped rifle, they rode off to Strawberry.

"You're gonna be my lookout, now stay far away back and make a distraction somewhere else." He told her.

"Like what?"

"I dunno we'll see when we get there, now if one of us gets caught high tail it out of there, don't play the hero." He told her bluntly. "Stay out of sight and out of mind, meet us over at the cliff nearby the lake." He told her.

"I got it."

"What did I say then?"

"Stay out of sight, out of mind." Y/n responded. "Don't go back for you, and meet up with you at the cliff nearby the lake."

"At least you know basic instructions," Arthur said with a shit-eating smirk, y/n glared at him.

"Shut up, damn drunk." She hissed.

"Don't get offended now."

"I ain't offended!"

"Sure you ain't, girl." Arthur mocked her.

The duo made it Strawberry and y/n was in position with Arthur, he looked at the town his binoculars, he noticed a lamp nearby some supplies, he pointed at it to y/n. "Shoot that, it should light the supplies on fire, when I give you the signal." He told her.

"The signal?"

"Yep I'm gonna wave my hat around, it'll buy me some time, once you do it run to the spot I told you we'll meet up with you. You're gonna hear gunshots but whatever you do, don't go into Strawberry knowing Micha...you gonna see a whole lotta dead folk." He grumbled, putting his binoculars away. Y/n nodded, Arthur then rode into Strawberry, y/n sighed scoping in she watched Arthur walking towards the jail, she waited for the signal, she couldn't help but feel nervous, sweat trailing down her face, holding her breath, her finger trembling on the trigger, she was doubting herself. _'What if I miss? What if they kill Arthur? What if I'm too late or too early? Maybe this was all a bad idea, maybe I shouldn't have listened! Maybe I should've just asked Arthur to stand there and look pretty...Maybe-'_ Her train of thought was gone, she perked up. She saw the signal, quickly she shut an eye and let a breath out slowly, her index pushed down. 


	5. "You Are Always Wrong"

A/n: Just finished Red Dead I cried soooo I'm deciding how Arthur should end up, maybe go by the canon or not? I dunno tbh... also I've noticed I've been writing a lot, before my fanfics would be short of 2K words but now it's slowly leaning towards 3K...

Y/n's eyes widen she watched the lantern burst into flames, it was insane. Quickly chaos arose, people ran away from the supplies, screaming and hollering out. The flames looked beautiful, smoke rising up to the clouds, she stood there in pure awe, she shook her head. Y/n had to get out of there and follow Arthur's instructions, she picked up Arthur's scoped rifle and took a quick glance to see Arthur blowing up the jail cell, y/n smiled. 'We got him!' She thought to herself, quickly she put the scoped rifle onto her horse's cargo and rode (horse's name) towards the meet up.

_Y/n grunted loudly, she heard the birds chirping. It was the next day the morning after the raid she had endured. Those men took everything that was of value from her manor, she forced herself to get up from the ground, pulling herself up the kitchen counter. She hissed loudly in pain looking the drawers to find a needle and thread. She smirked, panting softly, she already knew this was gonna hurt like hell. She went to the alcohol cabinet if her husband was anything he was drinker, he loved his whiskey. Y/n grabbed a bottle of whiskey and slammed it down on the counter, she lifted up her nightdress, the bullet didn't go clean through. She groaned loudly, she knew what she had to do was gonna be the worst thing she'll ever experience in a long time. Y/n grabbed onto a dishrag biting down on it she found some teasers, she chuckled softly to herself looking at the equipment._

_"This is gonna fucking suck." She muttered softly to herself, preparing herself for the worst. She kept her nightdress up, rolling it up to show her stomach, the bullet was on her side, nearby her stomach. Y/n took one quick swig of whiskey and grabbed onto the teasers, biting down on the rag to muffle her screams. She dug into her flesh, looking for the bullet, the clean teaser digging into her, blood squirting everywhere, squish and squash sounds could be heard from her digging into herself so roughly. She panted loudly, sweat rolling down her face, screaming out cries of pain until she finally pulled the bullet out. She shakily placed it on the counter, she then looked at the whiskey, pouring it all over her open wound._

_She cried out in pain, the alcohol burning her skin, making a sizzling sound. She dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand, shakily she reached for the thread and needle, she pushed the thread through the needle and begun to sew her wound. The rusty nail digging into her flabby skin, the string grinding inside of her skin, she watched the string being pulled in and out until finally it was finished, it was badly done but it stopped the bleeding. She took the rag out of her mouth and threw it across the kitchen, she punched the wall next to her, she was sweating from the anxiety and pain. She rolled her head around, panting softly she looked out to the window._

_"I need to get out of here..." Y/n muttered softly to herself with a painful smile._

 

Y/n waited for Micha and Arthur before long they came back, y/n looked over at the two of them blood smeared all over their bodies and faces. She could tell though it wasn't their's, y/n looked at Arthur terrified and shocked.

"Why'd you bring her along?" Micha asked Arthur.

"Dutch," Arthur responded.

"You guys have any cuts...wounds..?" Y/n asked them, Micha chuckled nodding. He pointed at the bruises and knife slits on his face, he looked cocky and even proud to have those wounds. Y/n looked at Micha, she was unamused, to say the least, she sighed, muttering softly to herself before getting off of her horse and took out the basic medic supplies to clean his cuts. Micha seemed a bit too pleased with this, he had a shit-eating grin on his face, chuckling as y/n was clearly annoyed with him, trying to patch him up quickly. She really didn't wanna do this but she knew Micha was close to Dutch and if he told him what she did for him, it could help her a lot.

"You know I think I like this view a lot better," Micha said, starring down y/n's chest. Her (eye color) eyes widen, she looked disgusted, y/n bit down on her tongue, she knew she shouldn't respond to what he said.

"Just a little longer...Mr. Bell." Y/n growled his name.

"You know girls like you need discipline, you ain't got no goddamn respect-"

"Shut it Micha." Arthur interrupted him, standing behind y/n. "Just let the damn girl patch you up so you can go."

"What are you? Her _husband_?" Micha responded, Arthur rose an eyebrow, he clearly wasn't assumed with his quick responses, Micha chuckled shaking his head, pretending like he was joking. "I'm just kiddin' she may be a fool but she ain't dumb enough to marry you. Are older men your cup of tea, _sweetheart_?" Micha asked y/n, turning his attention to her. Y/n glared at him, she bit down on her tongue to just not say anything, she knew this is what he wanted, attention.

"I think he's done," Arthur said pulling y/n away from him. "now get the hell out of here Micha before I tell Dutch what other fuck-up's you've done." Arthur hissed at him, Micha chuckled, amused with Arthur's sudden change in personality.

"Sure thing, cowpoke. I don't wanna offend Dutch's son." He said obviously mocking Arthur. "You got a soft for women or something, cowpoke?" He asked him.

"Now you're getting on my god damn nerves...Lemme just tell you something, _boy_ , you only been riding with us for 6 months, I've been riding with Dutch for over 20 god damn years, we can just ditch you whenever we want." Arthur snarled at him, Micha chuckled, he liked this darker of side him. He simply bowed and got back on his horse.

"Whatever you say, _Mr. Morgan_ , I'll need your help though at my camp. I'll see you soon, cowpoke and _cowpoke's saloon girl._ " He then waved at them, y/n and Arthur growled, shaking their heads in disappointment and annoyance.

"Micha is something else." Y/n muttered softly getting on her horse.

"He's a piece of shit," Arthur growled, spitting with both hands over his belt buckle.

"What's with all the blood you both had on you?" Y/n asked him softly, turning to him. "I thought this was a rescue mission?"

"It was...but Micha killed half of the entire town for some damn guns." He told y/n bluntly, y/n's face turned pale in terror and fear.

"H-He did what?"

"You heard me...something ain't right with that man." Arthur grumbled, scratching the back of his neck.

"He's disgusting..." Y/n muttered softly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "He always talks like that to the girls, flirting thinking we want him. Especially to Mrs. Adler and I, we get the worst." Y/n told Arthur.

"Why don't you ever just talk back at him?" He asked her.

"I've only been riding with ya'll for a month...I don't wanna make myself seem like a bad woman...listen Mr. Morgan I wanna stay apart of this gang. I ain't got nothing to go back to, you saw my manor, you saw it. I ain't got nothing, the crops are burned down, my manor has been ransacked! All of my maids, butlers, gardeners, guards, are all dead...my husband either gone or dead. " Y/n explained to him, she sighed softly, she knew she was getting too emotional, she had to calm herself down. "I don't wanna ruin this, Mr. Morgan...I guess...ya'll make me feel less...no that ain't right...I-I ain't alone is what I'm tryna say." Y/n was trying to string up the words in her head into actual sentences that could make sense. "Money was my best friend and now...I ain't got it no more." y/n told him bluntly with both hands on her hips she looked at the blue sky. "I'm sorry...I got ahead of myself." Y/n said softly underneath her breath, she turned away from Arthur looking at the blue sky. "Forget I ever said anything." Y/n told him bluntly, chuckling a bit.

"I didn't know that's how you felt, girl..." Arthur told her softly, y/n shook her head, looking away from Arthur.

"As I said, pretend I never said anything I don't wanna cause a scene again." She told him bluntly, gripping onto her saddle. "Thank you, Mr. Morgan." She thanked him one last time before riding off back to camp. Arthur sighed, shaking his head, he scratched the back of his neck, he didn't know what to say to her, if it was one thing he sucked at it was dealing with emotional things. He grumbled, kicking the dirt, looking down at his feet before taking out a cigarette and smoking it.

"Damn girl." He grumbled, he was raised by wolves and now here he is, confused as to how to handle y/n. Brute force wasn't the way to go, neither was speaking.

"Y/n! Where's Arthur?" Dutch called to her.

"He's gone somewhere else, probably to hunt, Micha is out of jail too." Y/n informed him, Dutch congratulated her with a big grin on his face, like a father proud of his daughter.

"Well done Ms. L/n! I knew you and Arthur made a great team!" He told her, smacking her back.

"Thank you sir...I'm gonna go head out." She told him, Dutch nodded allowing y/n to walk to her sleeping bag. She was a bit upset at the fact she didn't have any more money to buy her new clothes. Y/n, glanced over at herself in the mirror, her shirt was barely being held up by threads, it was dirty with a bunch of stains, her long skirt that was high waisted was torn up and dirty as well. Of course, she was wearing the exact same clothes that Karen and Mary-Beth put her in when they first met. She then noticed at the corner of her eye Hoesa motioning her to come to him, she walked over to him a bit surprised. Hoesa then motioned y/n to sit at the empty seat that was next to him.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Y/n asked him, sitting down next to him.

"I've been meaning to ask you something ever since we first met. I was wondering if you could tell me, how did you patch yourself up? I mean Ms. L/n although the stitching was rather rough it was cleaned and very well done for a housewife." He told her.

"Well, sir...I used to sew when I was younger, my momma taught me when I was a little girl and well I was able to persuade my husband to allow me to take medical lessons. I told him that I could possibly be a better mother by patching up wounds that our children may have." Y/n explained, she chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I loved learning about the medical field, so much so I started to have theories...my husband didn't like this so he took it away from me." Y/n explained to him, she sighed softly shaking her head. "I have learned the basics and a bit more on the advance side as well...but that's all." Y/n explained to Hoesa, he looked a bit shocked, leaning back on his chair.

"I see, when you first came here Dutch told me about your wound and when you showed it to me I was shocked at how well you mended it." He explained to her. "Especially as a young woman in your situation, the night before you were shot and you used whiskey, kitchen materials, a sewing needle, and thread." He explained to her. "How about you become our medic? The gang doesn't have much of a medic and we always show up with wounds." Hoesa suggested.

"I-I dunno sir...y-you see I wanna do more for the gang...I want to...I dunno be more in the action?" Y/n responded.

"More in the action?" Hoesa questioned.

"Yes, I wanna help you all to earn money!" Y/n explained to him.

"Y/n you know that's a very dangerous job, every day we live on the edge," Hoesa explained to her. "We don't know if we'll be one member short ever."

"I understand, but I feel like I could be more useful than a medic girl." Y/n told Hoesa with determination in her eyes.

"I understand Ms, L/n, maybe just for now? Hm?" Hoesa tried to reason with her, Y/n sighed, looked at the old man, he had kind eyes and it made y/n feel a bit guilty. Y/n bit down on her cheek, rubbing the back of her neck. "You'll be doing us a great favor."

"A-Alright...for now, but I still wanna do my shooting lessons." Y/n told him.

"Of course, now if you could do me a favor, please check up on that O'Driscoll boy, I believe Dutch might've beat him too much." Y/n nodded, getting up.

"Of course." She told him, walking up to the man. He was tied up to a tree, he wasn't allowed to eat and would often beg for food. He was there a bit before y/n had shown up. They caught him when they raided a camp, they've been questioning him ever since, y/n had felt pity for him and would sometimes slip him some scarps whenever she could, he looked up to her, almost like she was an angel.

"Oh miss! Please give me some food!" He begged her, y/n sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. He looked tired and skinny, flushed bags under his eyes and a couple of bruises and dried blood on him.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm only here to check up on you." Y/n told him bluntly, he looked down, a bit disappointed but he shrugged it off never the less.

"I see..." He grumbled softly, he looked down, y/n looked at his face, patching him a up bit. "What's your name. ma'am?"

"Y/n l/n." Y/n responded. "What's your name?"

"Kieran Duffy." He responded. "You seem like a nice lady...why are you riding with these cruel fellers?" He asked her.

"Well Mr. Duffy they saved me, they ain't cruel." Y/n responded, putting both hands on her hips once she was finished patching him up. Kieran chuckled, shaking his head a bit annoyed.

"You know you're one of the nicest people here, you and that big feller with a bread."

"Mr. Williamson?"

"Yes him ...he gives me some beers and stuff like that," Kieran explained, he then looked up to y/n, he looked almost like a skeleton. "You know I think one of these fellers like you."

"Huh?"

"I think-" Kieran was interrupted by Dutch calling her name.

"Ms. L/n! Don't listen to that snake! C'ere for a second, please." He called her over, y/n sent Kieran a sympathetic look, she picked up her supplies.

"See you later, Mr. Duffy." She then walked away from him and went towards Dutch's tent, he was leaning against the doorway, Hoesa was also in the tent and Arthur, he then turned to Molly who was sitting on her bed.

"Can you go somewhere else for a moment, please?" Dutch asked Molly, she sighed muttering something under her breath before walking away. "Now, Ms. L/n Hoesa and Arthur were telling me how well you are at patching folks up."

"E-Er yes I-I can patch folk up but-"

"You should become our medic girl!" He suggested, y/n frowned, twisting her mouth, she glared at Arthur who only looked away. He knew what she felt about being a medic, but instead he told Dutch, he suggested it do Dutch and well y/n didn't wanna be some medic girl, they take resources and for what? Nothing.

"Sir...I don't wanna be a medic girl." Y/n responded.

"Nonsense! I should've known that was the perfect job for you! The way you patched yourself up it ain't pretty but you're alive." Dutch explained. "Arthur thought so too, he was telling me how you patched up Micha." Y/n let out a soft growl, she sighed softly. She knew it was impossible to change his mind, she knew that y/n seemed a bit useless compared to everyone else.

Hoesa plans things out for a heist.

Pearson cooks and can kill folk.

Lenny is their stakeout and his youth allows him to run faster.

Karen is a great actress and tricking folk.

Y/n could easily go on, she didn't have anything on her resume other than looking pretty. She just learned how to shoot a gun and never killed anyone, she would probably hesitate.

Y/n let out a long and soft sigh, trying to calm herself down. "Sir, may I still learn how to shoot a gun and fight folk?" Y/n asked him, playing with her thumbs. "I wanna help the gang as many ways as possible."

"You'll already be doing enough by keeping our folk alive!" Dutch responded.

"I ain't a doctor, I'm just a housewife that knows few a tricks here and there." Y/n responded,she was getting a bit aggressive, Dutch furrowed his eyebrows. Hoesa then stepped in between the two.

"I suggested why not she stays as our medic for a bit, however she will still on a couple of missions and Arthur will still teach her how to shoot a gun." Hoesa explained.

"But we need a medic that will stay here." Dutch explained. "Arthur what do you think?" Dutch asked him, everyone turned to him. Y/n glared at him, she knew this was all on him, he looked away from y/n, trying not to make eye contact with her, he rubbed the back of his neck, gulping. 


	6. "When I Met You"

_Y/n was on the ground it had been about an hour since she had just finished her patch job. Dried blood was all over the floor and on her face, she then heard a loud clutter coming from the front door. Y/n’s eyes widen, she thought it was those men, she quickly grabbed onto a bottle of empty whiskey and smashed it against the counter for a weapon of some sort before climbing up the stairs to hide in the attic._

_Footsteps could be heard roaming around the house, while a man called out into the house._

_“Hello?” The man called out, looking around the house. Y/n gulped, her heart beating out of her chest, while she clenched onto her nightdress, her body trembling. Another man then found a couple of bodies around the living room, he looked around seeing bullets and smashed the glass._

_“Dutch…this don’t feel right.” He told the man. “There’s bodies here.”_

_“Bodies?” Dutch questioned walking over to the man’s voice. “Micha search upstairs Arthur you search downstairs, I’ll look around the back.” He told them, the men nodded going to the areas they were supposed to search. Arthur held his gun close to him, he walked into the living room and noticed a photo of a married couple on the fireplace, he picked it up and looked at it. He studied the photo and shook his head._

_“The girl looks young…” He muttered to himself, he flipped it over to read the date and names. “Joseph Jones(26) and Y/n L/n (16)…Jesus Christ…"_

_Y/n felt her heart pounding out of her chest she could hear footsteps going up the stairs. She bit down on her tongue to hold in her screams, she was terrified, she had no idea what the hell was gonna happen. Just then there was silence she let out a soft sigh but just as she was about to count her lucky stars the trap door that led to attic opened. Y/n looked at the light that was coming from the door, terror rose on her face, she saw a man crawling towards her._

_“You’re coming with me girl…”_

_A loud scream could be heard coming from upstairs, Arthur quickly put the photo down and run up the stairs, ready with his gun._

_“Now what the hell is going on up there!” He shouted, he followed the screams and saw Micha grabbing a girl, pushing her down on the floor while she waved the broken bottle around._

_“She’s feisty ain’t she?”_

_Y/n glared at them, screaming at the man with her back against the wall throwing stuff at him. She looked terrified, her body was trembling tears rolling down her face._

_“Don’t touch me!” Y/n hurled at Micha. “Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!” She shouted at him,_

_“You an O’Driscol girl?" He asked her. “Huh? You their whore?” Y/n panted loudly, glaring at them, grabbing onto a vase and smashing it to bits and picking up the shards, still glaring at them, tears rolling down her eyes._

_“Micha stop talking you’re making the girl terrified-“_

_“Look at her! She’s obviously their whore!” Micha told Arthur walking up to her, y/n’s eyes widen, she waved the shard around Arthur didn’t know what the hell he was going to do and before he knew it Micha disarmed y/n and slammed her body against the wall, she grunted in pain, while her eyesight started to become hazy._

_“What the hell is wrong with you!” Arthur shouted at Micha pushing him off of y/n, pointing at her. “Look at her! She’s just a girl!” He then shoved Micha away from Y/n and blocked him from coming any further. Just before Micha could say anything Dutch came in, he was worried about the screams he heard._

_“What the hell is going on here?” He asked the men, he then noticed y/n’s body being blocked by Arthur. “Now who is she”?_

_“A girl-“_

_“An O’Driscol”_

_“No, she ain’t a god damn O’Driscol!” Arthur shouted at Micha, he then looked at y/n’s face, the strands of her hair covering her face a bit but he knew it was the girl from the picture. “She’s a housewife.” He told Dutch, pointing at a wedding photo that was next to him. “That’s her, look at the photo then her.” He explained to him, Dutch sighed looking at the photo and then looking at y/n, he saw the resemblance._

_“She’s just a poor soul…” Dutch muttered, noticing the age difference, Y/n grunted softly, pulling herself up, rubbing her head while blood trail down her face, quickly Dutch ran up to her, helping her up. “Miss are you alright?” He asked her._

_“I-I feel dizzy…” Y/n grumbled while she sat down on her bed, she looked around and noticed her house was brunt, barely holding up by ashes, once the men burned her room it didn’t spread to the rest of the house because it started to rain._

_“You’ll be alright…you’ll be okay. What’s your name?” Dutch asked her._

_“My name is Y/n Jones or at least…it was…” Y/n grumbled. “My maiden name is l/n.” Y/n explained, she then glared at Micha pointing at him. “You stay away from you goddamn pig.” She snarled at him. “I want you and your men to leave my house.” She told Dutch bluntly. “I don’t want no more trouble, I just wanna be alone.”_

_“What happened here, Miss?” Dutch asked her._

_“Does it matter?” Y/n asked him. “You saw them dead bodies.” She told him, she grunted a bit, holding onto her side. “Those bastards shot me.”_

_“Y-You’re wounded?” Dutch asked her, y/n nodded showing him her wound, he noticed how nasty it looked but it was patched up. “You’re not safe here, those men might come back, you outta stay with us for now,” Dutch told her, he looked sympathetic._

_“Stay with your men that grab women and hit them too?” She asked him, glaring at Micha._

_“I didn’t hurt you too bad-“_

_“Shut the hell up.” Arthur snarled at him, he glared at him. Y/n looked at the group, she had nowhere to go and even she knew she had to leave, even if it was gonna pain her to. She made eye contact with Arthur, for some reason she just felt warmth when she did, his blue hues staring at her (eye color) ones, they were cold and distant. Y/n noticed how he had a sad look in his eyes, he’s seen a lot of things but he felt pity for her, he must’ve seen her wedding photo and saw the ages._

 

“I-I dunno Dutch,” Arthur responded, rubbing the back of her neck. “I mean being a medic just means more supplies for someone that ain’t gonna earn em.” He explained.

“So you side with Hoesa?”

“N-No that ain’t it, it’s just the girl is a good sniper.” He accidentally blurted out.

“A good sniper?” Dutch questioned.

“Y-Yeah we ain’t got one of those and well they are very deadly, she might even be better than me with proper training.” He explained to Dutch. “Maybe being a medic can be her side gig and she could teach someone else that stays here all the time.” He suggested.

“Oh yeah, like who?” Dutch asked him.

“Abigail,” Hoesa suggested. “She’s always with the boy and she could benefit it more than anyone else, y/n has no children and neither do the rest of the ladies, she could use that knowledge to care for her boy.”

“That’s a good idea!” Y/n said with a big grin on her face.

“Well okay, then ‘cause everyone seems to be so happy about it!” Dutch responded he seemed a bit annoyed. “Let’s see how much of a good shot you are…Ms. L/n.” Dutch said a bit menacingly.

“I won’t let you down.” Y/n responded with sheer determination in her eyes, Dutch sighed walking away from the trio. “Thank you.” Y/n thanked the old man who only smiled and patted her back.

“Don’t mention it.” He told her leaving Dutch’s tent, y/n looked over at Arthur, she bit down on her cheek not knowing how to thank him. Scrunching up her nose, Arthur was about to leave with both hands on his belt buckle but y/n said something.

“T-Thank you, Mr. Morgan.” She thanked him.

“For what?” Arthur asked her.

“Saying I’m a good shot,” Y/n responded turning over to him, she looked flustered, avoiding eye contact with him. “I won’t let you down neither, I’ll pull my weight just like everyone else here.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Arthur said with a smirk on his face, Y/n looked up to him with a smug look on her face. Arthur jumped up a bit, he wasn’t expecting that, he couldn’t help but feel pity for y/n. Every time he saw her face he’s reminded on how they met, how he didn’t much against Micha when she needed, how she was marrying a man 10 years her senior at a young age.

“E-Er y-y/n…” Arthur stuttered.

“What is it?” Y/n asked him, she looked at him with an innocent look. He grunted, biting down on his tongue, he knew he shouldn’t be asking her anything that had to do with her past, he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea or anything.

“M-Maybe we should skip some lessons and just go straight to killing animals.” He told her, y/n looked back at him, there was a sudden glisten appeared in her (eye color) eyes, she had a big grin on her face that was ear to ear. Arthur looked away from her, trying to hide a small blush that was sneaking it’s way to his face. “D-Don’t look at me like that.” He grumbled.

“I-I won’t let you down sir! I-I’ll get up earlier to get some extract practice! Thank you so much, Mr. Morgan!” Y/n thanked him, she had a big smile on her face, waving him off. Arthur watched her running to Sadie with a bigger than life smile on her face.

“Mrs. Adler!” Y/n shouted her name.

Arthur chuckled, he leaned up against the entrance of Dutch’s tent with his arms crossed over his chest. Over time y/n had slowly shown more emotional since she first joined them, he would remember how the first week she was there she would often stray away from everyone, sit at the corner of a fire and keep her distance. Her eyes were cold and lifeless, she could rarely speak unless she’s spoken to, she was an actual ghost, sometimes Arthur himself would forget she was even there. He looked away from y/n when he caught himself staring, he went back to his tent, the nightfall was already set on them, he decided to read some parts of his journal, just for a personal reason. He flipped to the page to where he first met y/n, on one side was a sketch of her, she looked tired, broken down, almost lifeless.

_Dutch, Micha and I went to a big old house that we thought was abandoned, of course, it wasn’t._

_I was told to check around the house, there was a bunch of bodies on the ground, mostly dressed as maids, butlers, and a few guards here and there. I thought maybe the house was raided the night before. I looked around a bit longer and found a wedding photo._

_I felt pity for the girl, thinking what bastards would allow a child to marry a grown man…she was only 16 and he was 26._

_It’s a cruel world that we live in._

_I heard a scream, it sounded like a woman. I ran upstairs and there I saw Micha, mistreating a girl. I didn’t see what had happened, but she looked terrified of Micha, screaming and hollering out before I knew it Micha smashed her fragile body against the wall._

_It was hard enough for her head start to bleed and she fell on the ground. I stepped in and blocked Micha away from her, she looked just like the poor girl that was on the photo. Micha was talking all crazy like, luckily Dutch showed up and agreed with me, that she was harmless nothing but a poor soul in the wrong place at the wrong time._

_She had quite the mouth on her as well, she reminded me of myself when I was younger, she was a fighter…I knew she was…I-_

Arthur flipped through the pages to a new page, he decided to not dwell too much into the past. He knew it would just make him feel more pity for y/n and he had to understand that she wasn’t a little girl, she wasn’t defenseless anymore.

Y/n was speaking with Sadie, they became friends because of how much they could relate and the fact they were the newest members to the gang. Sadie would often speak about her husband and how much she misses him, y/n would describe her past and how much she misses her old family dog. All of a sudden the conversation changed from joy to sadness.

“I had a dream of my Jakey again…” Sadie muttered sadly, looking up to the night sky. “We was farming…I was helping him with the crops and he had the biggest smile on his face…he looked…so much at peace…I miss my Jakey so much.” Sadie muttered softly, her voice was breaking. Y/n held onto her hand, trying to make her feel better.

“I’m sorry…” She muttered softly. “I’m sure he was a great man.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s those damn bastards that should be sorry,” Sadie growled, wiping her tears. “You know y/n, you don’t speak about your husband, Joseph? Wasn’t it?”

“Joseph…” Y/n muttered softly, she shrugged his name off. “W-What do you wanna know?”

“Where you two sweet on another? Like me and Jake?”

“N-No w-we wasn’t…” Y/n responded. “I married young Mrs. Adler, at first it seemed fine, almost like it was straight out of a fairy tale, but then something changed…”

“How long were you two married?”

“We was married for 7 years.” Y/n responded.

“How old were you when you two…married?”

“I was 16, he was 26.” Y/n responded. “You see when you grow wealthy it ain’t about love, it’s about how much money you can make. My daddy told me that I’ll learn to love him.” Y/n explained to Sadie. “At first he was sweet and a kind man for the first 3 years, he wanted children…I didn’t.” Y/n grumbled, shaking her head, trying to get rid of the bad memories. “It wasn’t much of a fairy tale, I guess that’s around the time the drinking started to happen.” Y/n played with her thumbs, she didn’t like talking about her past too much but Sadie was different. She felt comfortable with her, she felt like she could tell her anything. “Maybe them fellers burning my house and taking my things was the best thing that had ever happened to me.” Y/n chuckled, she had a dark sense of human, Sadie tried to make y/n feel better.

“I’m sorry you had to experience all of that shit when you were young.” She told her softly.

“It’s fine Mrs. Adler.” Y/n responded. “It’s about time that I grow up, besides I met you and the rest of the gang.” She told her with a big grin on her face, Sadie chuckled pushing a strand of y/n’s hair behind her ear.

“I guess you’re right.” Y/n then stood up she had to speak to Abigail, y/n excused herself and walked over to Abigail who was getting Jack some food. Abigail noticed y/n and smiled at her, waving at her.

“Ms. L/n, what can I do for you?” She asked y/n with both hands on her hips.

“I’m gonna teach you how to patch folk up.” Y/n responded.

“W-What? I didn’t know you were a doctor…” Abigail responded.

“I ain’t.” Y/n replied. “But I know a few tricks here and there, plus it could be useful especially when you have a little one running around.” Y/n told Abigail, gesturing to Jack.

“I-I dunno y/n I mean-“

“It’s really basic! I’m sure you’re a fast learner and it’ll be a breeze.” Y/n pleaded with her.

“It ain’t that hard?”

“Not it isn’t! I learned the basics within a week.” Y/n explained to Abigail. “It’s just so we can have some type of medic at camp and well it’s better to have two.” Y/n explained to Abigail, she rose her eyebrow not knowing what y/n was getting at.

“How could be helpful with Jack, were you ever a mother?” She asked y/n, y/n looked a bit taken back. A small sad expression quickly went on her face, she stepped back from Abigail, she quickly hid it.

“J-Just trust me.” Y/n told her softly with a tender look on her face, Abigail sighed, shaking her head.

“Alright, alright, when do we start?”

“I reckon it’s best to start as soon as possible so how about now? We’ll start up again tomorrow once I get back from my shooting lessons.” Y/n suggested.

“Alright, teach me Ms. L/n!” Abigail said with a determined smile on her face, y/n chuckled pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Well let’s get started, now, first of all, I’m gonna tell you what you should use when patching up wounds, pure alcohol is always the best but if you ain’t got nothing of the sort Whiskey should suffice.” Y/n explained to Abigail. Arthur looked up and saw y/n was already teaching Abigail on medicine, he smiled and before he knew he was sketching the two ladies out, this was the second time he sketched y/n without realizing it. 


	7. "Savior"

It was the next day Arthur woke up, he grumbled getting the rifles ready he looked around and noticed y/n wasn’t in her bed. He quickly grew worried he immediately thought of the worst. _‘What if y/n is in jail? What if y/n is lost somewhere? What if those bastards took her-Oh wait there’s a letter.’_ Arthur just noticed the note that was on y/n’s bed.

_Dear Mr. Morgan_

_I went on ahead to the shooting place, Javier had let me borrow his rifle and I want to get some practice in, see ya there!_

_Arthur sighed, he rubbed his face in frustration he was worried sick for y/n only for her to be at the shooting place._ Arthur went on his horse to meet y/n at their shooting range.

He made it to the shooting range and noticed y/n was shooting at a bunch of glass bottles. She heard some twigs breaking and turned around, she noticed Arthur and smiled at him.

“Mr. Morgan!” Y/n called to him waving at him, she looked like an excited child seeing her father for the first time in years. Arthur found it adorable at how quickly she gets excited and happy, that was something he didn’t have the luxury of experiencing. Arthur walked up to her, both hands on his belt buckle while he patted y/n’s horse that was nearby.

“Hello Ms. L/n, I reckon you had a head start?” He asked her.

“I did, I’ve been training for a bit over an hour now.” Y/n explained.

“I see…Well, c’mon I’m gonna teach you how to shoot animals.” He told her getting on his horse. “Get on your horse.” He told her, y/n had a big grin on her face, mounting her horse she followed Arthur into a deeper side of the woods.

Once Arthur and y/n made it to a good hunting ground Arthur found a deer, he pointed it out to y/n while they hid in the trees. Y/n looked at the deer, it looked innocent and naive…it didn’t know it’s horrible fate yet. Y/n frowned, she felt her hands shaking while she held onto the rifle.

“Now y/n aim for the head, the head is always the best part,” Arthur told her.

“I-I dunno if I can.” Y/n stuttered, her heart was racing. Arthur looked at her, he knew that y/n was a bit hesitant. He sighed, patting her on the back trying to calm her down.

“Think about it like this, that deer’s life will feed us, one life to help a group.” He explained to her. “That deer will feed us.” Y/n looked at him a bit more comfortable, she let out a long soft sigh.

“Y-You’re right…thank you it’s just…it’s so innocent…” Y/n muttered softly underneath her breath, she felt pity for the poor thing. Arthur noticed y/n’s pity and tried to make her feel a bit better.

“D-Do you wanna skip this lesson?” He asked her.

“No…” Y/n responded. “I need to learn.” She told him bluntly, she aimed her rifle at the head. She let out a long sigh, her fingers trembling on the trigger she felt her heart pounding out of her chest. She let out a long breath and pulled the trigger, sweat rolling down her face she heard the bullet going off and smoke coming out of her gun followed by a thud. Y/n watched the deer fall to the ground, Arthur nodded.

“Clean shot.” He complimented her.

“Thank you…” Y/n responded. “Maybe shooting folks that are shooting at you would be easier for me.” Y/n joked, reloading her rifle. Arthur chuckled, he liked y/n’s dark sense of humor, he then went on his horse.

“Let’s go get the deer, after that you’re gonna shoot an animal that’s moving.” He told her. “A large one though, I don’t think you’ll be able to shoot a rabbit as a first-timer.” He told her bluntly, y/n chuckled, she couldn’t agree more.

“I thought you said I was a good shot.” Y/n joked with him, Arthur rose an eyebrow.

“You wanna go back to just being a medic girl?” He asked her, y/n quickly shook her head.

“N-No, sir…” Y/n responded, Arthur chuckled he got the deer and skinned it before stowing it onto his horse. Y/n watched the brute skin the deer, she found it quite amazing at how easily he was able to skin the deer, or maybe because y/n just found it attractive despite the blood spreading everywhere. Arthur turned back to y/n, blood was on his face and his hat.

“Let’s go, I think I saw a herd of bucks over there.” He told y/n pointing at a direction, y/n nodded following him on her horse. “I want you to shoot with the scoped rifle, I’m gonna scare em and you’re gonna shoot one of em, I want you to try and get a clean shot.” He told y/n.

“I’ll do my best.” Y/n told him, gripping onto her saddle, she felt a lot to pressure. She wanted to prove to Arthur that she knows what she is doing and that she could be useful for the gang. Once Arthur and y/n got to their location Arthur scared off the herd of bucks, y/n watched them run in her scope. She let out a long soft sigh, her finger on her trigger, with one eye shut she pressed the trigger and the buck fell to the ground. Arthur inspected the buck and saw the shot, it wasn’t exactly clean but it was pretty good especially at the distance she was at, the bullet when clean through its neck. He picked up the buck and skinned it taking the body to y/n’s horse to stow it. Arthur then glanced over at y/n, she looked guilty. He smiled at y/n and gave her a thumbs up, y/n had a tender smile on her face.

“I did good?” She asked him.

“The shot wasn’t clean but it was pretty good for a first-timer, maybe next time you can shoot a rabbit instead.” He joked with her, slapping her on the back, y/n let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head.

“You know my husband would’ve smacked me on the side of the head for even touching a gun.” Y/n told Arthur, looking down at Javier’s gun. “My momma would’ve spanked me silly too, she told me that I had to behave like a young woman.” Y/n told Arthur.

“That training hasn’t done much for you.” Arthur chuckled, y/n laughed smacking him on the shoulder.

“You know if you met me in my youth I was…different.” Y/n said softly, looking up to Arthur with a sad expression. “I’m sorry Mr.Morgan I’m talking too much.” Y/n apologized.

“It’s alright,” Arthur responded. “I’m glad you decided to ride with us,” Arthur said with a kind expression.

“I am too…” Y/n said softly, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. She glanced over at Arthur, she almost forgot that this old brute and still be kind and sweet. She always remembered that look he had on his face when they first met, those kind blue eyes that just made her feel so warm and safe. She felt a small smile creeping up on her face at just the thought of it.

“So you never told me much about your husband,” Arthur told y/n bluntly while they were riding back to camp.

“My husband?” Y/n asked him a bit startled by the question. “There ain’t nothing to know about him.”

“I saw them wedding photos you were just a girl,” Arthur told y/n.

“That’s the thing, you guys never understand much about the wealthy, when you’re born wealthily the only things that matter is money and connections.” Y/n explained to Arthur. “Joseph was my father’s business partner, a young entrepreneur who had a side gig of growing tobacco. My daddy wanted to have him as a business partner and to show trust well I was to be married to him.” Y/n explained.

“How old were you when you first met him?”

“I was 13, maybe around 14? My momma told me that he was gonna be husband when I turned 16 because well you can’t have children at a young age plus Mr. Jones wanted me a bit older.” Y/n responded.

“I’m sorry that happened to you-“

“It’s fine, it don’t bother me none.” Y/n interrupted him. “Besides I put that behind me, now the gang is my main focus. I wanna repay you fellers for saving my life.” Y/n told Arthur.

“It wasn’t like that girl...” Arthur told her bluntly.

“What about you? You’ve been around the gang for a long time, I remembered you saying somethin’ about riding with Dutch for over 20 years.” Y/n asked him.

“Well, what it means.”

“Huh? No I mean what about you in your youth? When did you meet Dutch and Hosea?”

“I was 15.”

“1-15? That’s awfully young..” Y/n muttered softly.

“Well, it was either that or starve,” Arthur responded.

“What about your family-“

“Stop asking me all these damn questions Ms. L/n you and I ain’t friends.” Arthur snapped at her, y/n looked at him a bit shocked from his outburst while he rode past her. He didn’t want y/n to get a good look at him, he was angry at himself. He allowed y/n to slowly break down his walls, and he wasn’t gonna allow it.

“I’m sorry Mr. Morgan!” Y/n called to him while he rode past her, the dust covering himself and his horse. Y/n sighed shaking her head, while she patted her horse. “I wonder what the hell went into him.” She told (Horse name), watching the dust slowly clear away. Her horse only neighed in response, crossed her arms above her chest.

_Y/n let out a soft sigh, starring at the group, holding her hand out to Dutch for him to shake it._

_“Allow me to properly introduce myself, my name is Y/n L/n, I am a widow and my dead husband is Joseph Jones, please to meet you.” Y/n said with a tender smile on her face, she looked tired and weary but somehow she still had the energy to smile. Dutch shook her head, his large hairy hands completely covered her fragile ones._

_“My name is Dutch Van Der Linde.” He told her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” He then gestured Micha who stood there with his hands over his belt buckle. “That’s Micha Bell.”_

_“He and I are acquainted.” Y/n snarled underneath her breath glaring at him. Micha only had a shit eating grin, nodding, tipping his hat to her. Y/n then glanced back over at Arthur who was standing behind Micha silently._

_“That man over there is Arthur Morgan,” Dutch told y/n pointing at the man behind Micha. “Now you can stay here or come with-“_

_“I dunno about that.” Micha interrupted Dutch. “We already have another woman with us, she’ll just be a waste,” Micha told him bluntly._

_“E-Er you’re right.,” Dutch muttered softly, Arthur glanced over at y/n, he had so much pity for her, he couldn’t handle himself. He pulled Dutch to the side and whispered to him._

_“She’s just a girl Dutch!” Arthur pleaded him._

_“Yes, a girl who is another mouth to feed,” Dutch added._

_“I-I-“_

_“Arthur I dunno if we can take her in, maybe not now but later-“ Dutch was interrupted by Arthur._

_“I’ll take care of her, I'll get more food, more supplies, I’ll be responsible for her,” Arthur told him with sheer determination in his eyes. Dutch looked at him, he knew that was serious, he let out a long sigh before turning back to y/n._

_“Well y/n…will you ride with us?”_

_“Dutch-“_

_“Shut up Micha.” Arthur interrupted him._

_Y/n look terrified, she knew that this was the better option. She looked at the men and made eye contact with each and everyone, even Arthur. Arthur blushed a bit, he looked away from y/n, sheepishly hiding his face. Y/n nodded meekly, she was scared and cold nothing could be worse for her, even if these men decide to kill her she wouldn’t mind._

_“You’ll ride with Arthur,” Dutch told her, the group mounted on their horses and y/n was on Arthur’s. She could feel the warmth coming off of him, she couldn’t help but smile, she wanted to snuggle up against him but she knew that was not the best choice and how dishonorable that would be. She felt the cold air tickling her face and nose, causing her nose to become red and her cheeks as well._

_“Don’t worry Mrs. Jones, you’re safe now!” Dutch called to her. “Just recently he had picked up another widow, her name is Sadie Adler, I’m sure you two would get along!” He told her._


	8. "You Make Me Lose My Mind"

Y/n was at the camp and teaching Abigail the basics, such as what materials to use and how to bandage up folk. Abigail listened closely, repeating everything y/n was saying, nodding her head. Y/n looked over her shoulder to glance at Arthur who was giving Mr. Pearson the deer and buck they had just killed, she couldn’t help but question why was he so upset when it came to his family.

“Y/n?” Abigail questioned trying to get her attention.

“Huh?” Y/n turned back to her, Abigail looked at her raising an eyebrow.

“You apply pressure when the wound is bleeding and…?” Abigail asked her.

“Oh! Um, applying pressure should stop the bleeding, of course, try to use a rag or something because dirty hands ain’t the best thing for open wounds.” Y/n explained, demonstrating on her arm. Abigail looked over at y/n then looked at what she was staring at, which was Arthur She couldn’t help but become a bit smug, she had a cocky grin on her face, folding her arms above her chest.

“You know he don’t bite.” She said confidently.

“Who?” Y/n asked Abigail, completely focused on the demonstration.

“Mr. Morgan,” Abigail responded.

“What?” Y/n looked up, she was confused raising her eyebrows up in shock. She didn’t want Abigail to be getting the wrong idea, but the way she looked says differently, Abigail’s dark blue hues made eye contact with y/n’s naive ones, slowly raising her thin black brow.

“Aw c’mon y/n you know exactly what I’m talking about!” She responded.

“No, I don’t!” Y/n grumbled, looking away from Abigail. She grabbed onto y/n’s arm and yanked at her arm repetitively like an annoying child to its momma.

“C’mon Ms. L/n I know that look! I had that same look when I saw John-“

“It ain’t like that!” Y/n interrupted her, she noticed how confused Abigail looked. Y/n let out a long sigh, blowing air into the air, looking up before looking back at Abigail. Y/n crossed her arms underneath her chest with a ‘really’ look. “Listen, Mrs. Martson, I was just thinking…does Mr. Morgan ever speak about his past? I mean, _really_ speak about it.” Y/n asked Abigail. “You’ve been here a lot longer than me and I was wondering if you knew why.”

“Well, y/n as long as I known him…he hasn’t really spoken a whole lot about his past. I believe his ex knows more.” Abigail explained y/n’s eyes widen with her eyebrows raised and her mouth open.

“Ex? He had an ex?” Y/n asked her with disbelief.

“Yes, I reckon her name was Mary Linton, she used to ride with us but left. She couldn’t handle this type of life and Arthur wasn’t gonna change so…she decided that it was best for them to split.” Abigail explained, y/n felt the gears slowly click in her head, she kept muttering that name to herself. She knew she heard that name somewhere, just then a lightbulb went on in her head.

“She wrote to him recently!” Y/n told Abigail. “When I was setting up Mr. Morgan’s bed I saw a letter that had her name on it!”

“Y/n? You were going through his stuff?”

“NO! Well…I’d like to think of it as inquisitive…” Y/n responded, playing with her thumbs. “Please don’t tell him! He would murder me if he knew I was going over his stuff!” Y/n pleaded with Abigail holding onto her hands.

“I won’t, don’t fret,” Abigail responded. “Listen, Arthur doesn’t open up easily…I don’t think you should pry into him too much.” Abigail told y/n, she only sighed in response glancing back at Arthur.

“When I asked…he just got so mad at me.” Y/n explained.

“Well he’s a wallflower, whaddya expect?”

“You’re right.” Y/n grumbled, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “So am I though.”

“At first yes, I remembered how distant you were and would barely eat, drink, or speak. You were just a walking corpse.” Abigail explained, y/n chuckled softly, nodding.

“Yeah…I was but now I just sorta let ya’ll have the fun.” Y/n responded. “I better get going, I’m gonna go look for work.” Y/n explained standing up and dusting off her shirt.

“What type of work?” Abigail asked her.

“I dunno, something that I can do cause I’m still short of my 5 and I need clothes.” Y/n explained.

“I think Javier might have something, you can ask him,” Abigail told y/n, she thanked her and went over to Javier, almost forgetting to return his rifle she gave it back to him.

“Oh, thanks.” Javier thanked her taking the rifle from her.

“You’re welcome, so Abigail was telling me you might have some jobs available I was wondering-well hoping if you did cause I would like to help.” Y/n told him, Javier rose an eyebrow, he seemed a bit surprised from y/n’s request. He put both hands over his hips, tipping his hat a bit.

“You wanna help me and Sean rob some rich fellers?” He asked her. “Are you sure you can do it? I mean they were your own social class…ya know?” Javier told her, y/n shrugged it off.

“Rich folk or not I still wanna help.” Y/n explained.

“Alright then, how will you help us?” He asked her.

“I’m a good actress I could distract ‘em while you two sneak around the back.” Y/n explained.

“It’s well guarded,” Javier explained.

“I’m sure you guys would be able to sneak around, steal some things you may find useful.” Y/n explained, Javier smirked nodding.

“Alright, sure, we were about to head out too. Get on your horse and I’ll lead the way.” Javier explained, y/n smiled nodding racing to her horse. Arthur noticed y/n getting on her horse while Sean was as well, Javier was at his bed taking out a map from his drawer. Arthur walked over to him, he was curious about why Y/n was going with them. He couldn't help but think of all the bad things that may happen to her. 

“Javier,” Arthur called to him, Javier turned around to face him. “What the hell is the girl doing with you and Sean?”

“We’re gonna rob a house,” Javier explained.

“What? No, tell y/n that she can’t-“ Arthur was interrupted by Javier.

“It’s too late I already told her she can join us,” Javier explained.

“You tryna get her killed?” Arthur snapped at her. “She’s just a girl, she still ain’t that good with a gun, she’s still new to this-“

“We can’t protect her forever Arthur, she made this choice. She wanted to join the gang, we…” He looked over to Molly and leaned into Arthur. “don’t wanna another deadweight.” He whispered to him.

“But-“

“Don’t worry I’ll protect her, now just let her go, she isn’t your daughter,” Javier told Arthur bluntly. “I dunno why you’re so overprotective of her-“

“I ain't!” Arthur said aggressively. "I just don't like the idea of getting folks killed!" 

“Okay, then let her join us. She’ll be fine, you have my word-“

“Javier C'mon! You don’t wanna keep the lady waiting!” Sean called to Javier.

“Alright coming!” Javier responded. “See you later Arthur.” He then went on his horse. _“Vamos!”_ Javier shouted leading the pack, Arthur sighed shaking his head, watching y/n slowly disappear into the distance.

“Arthur!” Strauss called to him.

“Comin’,” Arthur grumbled back. _'That damn girl is making me lose my  god damn mind'_

“Alright, lassy! Time to show us whatcha got!” Sean told y/n with a big grin on his face, y/n chuckled, she was laughing to hide the fact that she was a bit terrified. She had no idea how to rob people, or even if she’s that convincing.

“Don’t worry y/n, I promise I’ll keep you safe. I don’t want Arthur breathing down my neck.” Javier reassured y/n.

“Mr. Morgan?” Y/n questioned a bit shocked.

“Now! I can’t wait to rob those rich sons of bitches! Best thing about this job is robbing from the rich and snobby and giving it to the poor!” Sean said with a big grin on his face, he failed to know that y/n was once wealthy, Javier coughed awkwardly.

“You know I don’t think that’s very nice to say…” He said to Sean, glancing over at y/n and then at him. Sean looked at him a dumbfounded looking at y/n and at Javier.

“What?” He asked him.

 _“Pendejo,”_ Javier muttered underneath his breath.

“I-I was once apart of a rich family.” Y/n explained to Sean, his eyes widen he quickly now figured out what Javier meant with those odd stares.

“Oh shit! My bad! I-I mean you seem nice you’re not a snobby rich girl!” He quickly apologized, he was stammering and trying to explain himself, y/n only smiled in response shaking her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” She told him. “I put that life behind me.” Y/n explained to Sean.

“Alright time to keep it down, we are here, hitch up the horses up here,” Javier told the group, he got off his horse and hitched his horse, Sean and y/n followed suit. Javier and the group hid behind a couple of branches while they inspect the house with the binoculars.

“Looks pretty empty,” Sean said, the manor was two stories tall, it wasn’t huge but it was a decent size ranch house. Javier then pointed at a woman that was on the porch.

“There, she looks like the wife,” Javier explained, he then handed y/n a knife just in case things went messy. “Y/n go in, do your bit and Sean and I will sneak around the back.” He told her, y/n nodded, the group split off, y/n hid the blade under her dress. The woman noticed y/n walking towards her and stood up, her guard was quickly lifted. Y/n decided to act like a dazed young woman that was lost.

“What are you doing here ma’am?” The lady asked her,  y/n looked up at her with the most innocent look she could conjure up, just like the one she pulled with the officer.

“I-I’m lost.” Y/n responded.

“Lost?”

“Yes, ma’am I…we’ve been robbed.” Y/n responded with fake teary eyes. The lady looked at y/n, she looked a bit skeptical but then noticed the way y/n was dressed, her rags helped y/n’s case a lot more.

“Who were you with?”

“My husband we were in a carriage!” Y/n responded.

“I-“ The lady was interrupted by a man coming out of the house.

“Who is that Ma?” He asked her.

“A lost young woman…” She responded. “What do you want from us, miss…?”

“Miss Y/n Amerson.” Y/n responded. “I just was wondering if you could allow me to have shelter! Maybe help me find a sheriff.” Y/n added, fake teas rolling down her face, the lady looked at her, staring at her. Y/n looked behind her and noticed that Javier and Sean sneaking by them. She looked away from them to try and not make it obvious, all of a sudden y/n felt an arm around her shoulder, she looked up it was Sean.

“Ah, there you are my dear wife!” He said with a grin. “I am sorry that she disturbed ya! She’s not right in the head!” He told the lady and started to dragged y/n, she got the idea and went along with it.

“We’ve been robbed!” She told him acting a bit crazy.

“No darling we merely lost the horse,” Sean responded.

“Is she alright?” The lady asked him.

“Just fine, c’mon dear…thank you for everything.” Sean thanked her, dragging y/n back to the horses. He snickered pulling out a silver necklace that he stole from the house. _“Really.”_

Javier saw them and gave them their share, y/n earned 40 bucks from the robbery, she grinned taking the money and shoving it into her pocket. Javier patted her on the back as a way to compliment her.

“Great work y/n.” He complimented her. “I knew you knew you weren’t all innocent.” He joked y/n chuckled punching him on the arm softly.

“Of course not Mr. Escuella.” Y/n responded with a sly grin on her face. “I can play dirty too.” She said, Javier chuckled smacking y/n on the back, shaking his head.

“C’mon let’s get out of here.” He said, the group went on their horses and rode back to camp. Y/n couldn’t help but feel proud at how easily that went, it made her feel a bit pity for how easily y/n was able to play them like a flute, but she knew that this was how it’s gonna be now.

_Steal from the rich to give to the poor._

Once they got back to the camp, y/n noticed that Arthur wasn’t there, she decided to ignore that. Y/n and him weren’t close and it wasn’t any of her business, y/n grumbled softly, shaking her head.

 _“Probably went to see that Mary.”_ Y/n grumbled underneath her breath, she quickly gasped covering her mouth. She didn’t mean to sound jealous, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Y/n decided to take her mind off of things and went back to Valentine to get some new clothes and maybe have a drink _or two..._


	9. "I Can't Sleep"

Y/n rolled up to Valentine with (horse name), she went straight to the general store to buy some clothes to replace the rags that she had. Y/n walked into the store and looked around, not knowing what to buy or what could compliment her the best. She settled on a button-up collar shirt and some pants with leather suspenders. She had used 10 dollars in total for her new outfit and now she has 30 to spend on whatever she pleases. Y/n looked over at the saloon, she could use a drink to get her mind off of, Mary Linton. Y/n walked into the saloon, it was just as she expected. A bunch of drunk cowboys, hurling out curse words and a few of them were playing poker. Y/n walked over to the bar and looked at the drinks, she had never had anything to drink in a saloon, or even been in one. Y/n looked around, curiosity sparked her interest while she heard the piano being played all jolly-like. 

“What would you like _girl_?” The bartender asked her, y/n looked up to the menu and said the first one that she saw.

“Whiskey.” She responded.

“50 cents.” The bartender told her, y/n handed him a dollar bill while he gave her the money back and the drink. Y/n looked into the shot glass, she could see her reflection. Letting out a soft sigh she drank the shot glass down in one swig, y/n gasped loudly. This was some good stuff.

Y/n ordered another one, drinking that as quickly as the last before she knew it she was ordering another one and another. Y/n’s body started to move like jelly, her eyesight becoming hazy while she started to trip on nothing. She was like a fish out of water, giggling over nothing with a flushed face.

“I-I told him!” Y/n shouted to a man next to her, leaning up against him. “I knew it! That damned nameeeeee!” She told him, gripping onto his arms swaying side to side with a hurt look in her eyes.

“Whose name?”

“That Mary Linton BITCH!” Y/n shouted at him, shaking her head, slamming her hand down on the counter. “He just goes off with her! Just like that! Leaving me in the” She then hiccuped before finishing her sentence. “dust!”

“Who left you, ma’am?” Another man asked her.

“WHO?!” Y/n asked him, turning around overdramatically before letting out a long chuckle shaking her head while she played with her Whiskey. “He’s an old guy! I-it ain’t like I like him I just think he’s just not the worst person in the world, but boy is he dumb, D U M B!” Y/n told the man shaking her head. “He…He’s an idiot. Tell me I ain’t safe doing this doing that, that ain’t squat shit.” Y/n cursed, running her hands through her hair. “You know, I like you fellers you’re honest and I like that, bring it in!” Y/n then hugged the men close to her.

Y/n had been drinking more and more, she went from the saloon to the outside and all of a sudden in a blink in the eye she was beating a guy up. She punched him in the face, bruising her knuckles while blood splatter against her face.

“Handa off the merchandise!” Y/n shouted at him, before slapping him across the face. The man’s face was red and beaten to a pulp, blood rolled down y/n’s fist while she let out an exhausted sigh.

“Hands up!” An officer shouted at her, y/n turned around laughing maniacally.

“You’re gonna have to-“ She then hiccuped, swaying her body around even almost tripping on her own feet. “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN-“ Y/n then twirled around and tripped on her feet once more, her body fell onto the ground, she blackout. The officers looked at one another, confused but couldn’t let an easy arrest get away, they arrested y/n and threw her in jail.

Arthur was back at camp and noticed y/n wasn’t back. He quickly grew nervous and concerned he walked up to Javier who was playing dominos with Tilly.

“Javier, where’s the girl? You told me you would protect her.” Arthur snarled at him, he quickly accused Javier with both hands over his hips, he stared him down. Javier looked up, to meet Arthur’s blazing blue eyes, taking one big puff of his cigarette.

“She’s fine, the girl went down to Valentine.” He explained to Arthur.

“Why?”

“Something about clothes?” Javier responded. “Don’t worry tough guy y/n is fine,” Javier assured Arthur, who looked at the path that led to the town. Arthur shook his head, trying to get his mind out of the worst. “Y/n can take care of herself,” Javier told him to try and comfort him.

“You don’t know that-“

“She was perfectly fine at the robbery, the girl did great and made us 300 bucks richer,” Javier explained. “Don’t underestimate her, she might’ve been a rich girl but now she’s put that behind her, she’s willing to work, and work hard,” Javier told Arthur, who only denied it. Arthur couldn’t help but think just how much of a dire situation y/n might be, she might be getting beaten or harassed, anything. Tilly giggled, look at Arthur raising her eyebrow and even wiggling it.

“Don’t look at me like that Tilly,” Arthur grumbled.

“I’m just sayin’ I think it’s sorta funny how worried you are about her,” Tilly said acting innocent while Javier laughed in response, nodding.

“I know right, he’s acting like her father,” Javier explained.

“An _overprotective_ father,” Tilly added.

“You both are crazy!” Arthur grumbled shaking his head walking away from them.

“Don’t worry Arthur! Y/n will be back I think she just wants a night away from the camp!” Javier called to him, he then looked back at Tilly and the two started to giggle like schoolgirls, Tilly smacked him in the arm lightly. Arthur glared at them from over his shoulder, he could hear them laughing at him, or more at the way he was behaving.

“Ah, Arthur!” Abigail called to him.

“What is it?” Arthur asked Abigail walking towards her, she then showed her arm, she had been practicing how to bandage people and wanted Arthur to judge it.

“What do you think? Is it too loose? Too tight?” Abigail asked him.

“Looks too tight, it looks like your arm is gonna fall off,” Arthur responded, Abigail let out a frustrated sigh cursing underneath her breath while she undid the bandages, Arthur then looked over at her. “Did you see what time y/n left?”

“I dunno around the evening,” Abigail responded.

“Evening?” Arthur asked her. “It’s already night!” He shouted, he quickly grew angry at y/n, at how careless she was acting. Thinking she could just walk out of the camp whenever she wanted, it made him furious.

“Don’t worry about her, y/n might’ve gotten a hotel room,” Abigail told him.

“But I-“

“Don’t worry.” Abigail interrupted him, putting her hand over his shoulder and shooting him a tender look. “Y/n’s a big girl, she’s fine now it’s getting late and I reckon you should get to bed.” She told him, Arthur sighed. He knew that she was right, he walked over to his bed. He laid down, looking up to the night sky, he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. _‘I'll go into Valentine in the morning if she’s not there.’_ Arthur thought to himself, his heart was beating out of his chest. His hands were gettling clammy, a lump at the back of his throat, he just wanted y/n to be back and safe. 

_Y/n sat down around the camp, she looked around and felt nervous. Sure there were a few kind faces but y/n had no idea how to react to any of them, she felt surrounded._

_“It’s alright Mrs. Jones,” Dutch told her in a calming voice, getting her down from Arthur’s horse. Y/n looked over at Arthur who was smoking a cigarette, she nodded to him._

_“Thank you, Mr. Morgan…” She muttered softly, Arthur only nodded in response looking away from y/n. Before y/n could speak or say another word a herd of women surrounded her._

_“This here is Y/n Jones or her maiden name is L/n,” Dutch explained to the women, he then turned over to a woman with brown hair and kind blue hues. “Mary- Beth get her out of those rags, poor thing lost everything she owned today,” Dutch explained to her, Mary- Beth nodded._

_“Of course, please follow me, Mrs. Jones.” She then led her to her tent, Y/n looked around at the camp. She's never seen anything like this, a large campfire right in the middle, tents and sleeping bags all over. Y/n couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for these people, y/n never had to sleep on the ground and she couldn’t imagine how difficult it was for them. Y/n saw a little boy, she was expecting that, the boy made eye contact with her before a woman with black hair, the mother y/n assumed pulled him to the side. Y/n was already in the tent and Mary-Beth brought y/n some clothes that they had left over, a long dark blue skirt, a button up and some boots. Y/n looked at the clothes while Mary-Beth helped y/n out of her clothes._

_“You poor, poor thing…” She said softly. “I am so sorry that all of that has happened to you.” She told her, y/n looked at Mary-Beth avoiding making eye contact with her. She looked away from her, y/n shrugged, for some reason, she couldn’t speak, she was too nervous to. Her heart beating out of her chest, her fingers trembling. “Ah I see…not much a talker are you, Mrs. Jones…Well, my name is Mary-Beth Gaskill.” She introduced herself, y/n nodded turning around to shake her hand._

_“Dutch!” An older woman shouted to him, Dutch turned around to face a woman with a large bun her blue hues glaring at him. “We can’t afford to take another woman in!” She told him._

_“It wasn’t my choice,” Dutch responded._

_“Whose choice was it-“_

_“It was mine.” Arthur interrupted her. “Ms. Grimshaw that girl has nothing to go back to…i-it wouldn’t be right to just leave her,” Arthur explained, Ms. Grimshaw looked at Arthur, letting out a frustrated sigh she shook her head._

_“We don’t have enough food-“_

_“I’ll get more food,” Arthur responded. “We can’t kick her out, look at the damn girl.” Arthur pleaded with her, she glanced back and saw y/n coming out with a new bag of clothes. Y/n looked tired and nervous, her entire body shaking, she let out a long sigh before looking back at Arthur._

_“You know I ain’t that heartless…” She muttered, she shook her head, muttering to herself leaving Arthur alone. Arthur glanced over at y/n who glanced back at Arthur the two made eye contact before Arthur just grunted and looked away from her, y/n looked back at him with naive eyes, tilting her to head to the side._

_‘The hell did I do to him?’ Y/n thought to herself._

Arthur got up from that sleepless night’s rest. He looked around, wiping his face, y/n’s horse was still not back yet. He growled underneath his breath, shaking his head he got up from his bed, put on his boots and hat, snatching his gun and mounted onto his horse. He could just think of how many ways he can antagonize y/n with a simple, ‘I told you so’ look on his face. Valentine was a small town but with too many dangers for a young widow. It was like having a sign on y/n that just screamed, ‘PLEASE ABUSE ME!’

Once Arthur made it to Valentine he started to ask around if they seen y/n, he pulled up to a group of people.

“Heya fellers have you seen a girl around here? She’s my daughter and I can’t find her anywhere, goes by the name of Y/n l/n. She’s in her early 20’s, (hair length) (hair color), (eye color) eyes she’s about this tall.” Arthur then gestured to y/n’s height with his hand.

“Yeah, she was drunk as hell.” One man responded.

“What?” Arthur questioned.

“Yeah, ain’t that right Hill?” He asked the man next to him nodded.

“I reckon she was asking folk for a ‘Mary Linton’.” The man that responded by the name of Hill told Arthur. Arthur’s face turned white in shock, his mouth flung open. He never thought y/n would ever know that name, or let alone his ex at all.

_“What?"_


	10. "What Else To Say?"

“Yeah, the girl was walking around asking folks, ‘Have you seen that bitch Mary Linton? I need to speak to her.’” One of the men told Arthur. He looked shocked, in disbelief, he didn’t know how the hell y/n had known about Mary or let alone even if she knew who she was to him. Arthur shook his head, rubbing his face to try and calm himself down.

“Did you see where she went?” Arthur asked the group.

“I dunno last time I saw her was after the bar fight, after that she just disappeared.”One responded.

“A bar fight?!” Arthur shouted, he instantly just imagined y/n getting beat with glass bottles, stools, tables, everything but the kitchen sink. The men then started to chuckle, shaking their heads to reassure Arthur.

“Now, now pop it she didn’t die or anything, in fact, I reckon she was quite brute and she was the one that was getting rough.” He explained, laughing. “I never thought I’d see that much damn violence spark outta her, she just kept shouting that Mary name again and again,” Arthur grumbled, he was angry with y/n, just how could she have known her name. He looked up back at the group, rubbing his knuckles together to try and calm himself down.

“Thank you fellers I’ll keep asking around.” He responded.

“Alright now, when you see that girl tell her good fight!” He called to Arthur who left the group. He asked around a bit, most people told him the same thing, how angry she was about Mary, hurling, cursing, and drunk. Arthur had just found his break when a young man told him.

“Yeah, I saw her.” He told him.

“Where?”

“The cops took her in, something about beating a man.” He explained.

“God damn it, girl!” Arthur shouted he was so angry that he didn’t thank the man and marched straight to the jail. He was clenching his fist so much that his hands were throbbing, he was angry yet not for getting caught. For being reckless, for being careless, women and jail don’t mix very well, especially not in a town jail. He walked in and saw y/n past out on the bench in her cell, her shirt unbuttoned a bit, her arms over her head and a bunch of dirt all over her. The sheriff noticed Arthur and rose an eyebrow at him, Arthur looked back at him.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“Heya mister, I’m here to bail the girl out.” He explained.

“Her?” The Sheriff asked pointing at y/n who was still in the cell past out.

“Yes, her.”

“Really, now?” The Sheriff looked at him, crossing his arms above his chest before letting out a long sigh. “Alright, 50.”

“50? What the hell did she do burn an entire town?"

“Well, first of all, she almost beated a man close to death, and she’s a woman. A young woman like her cannot behave like this, if they could anarchy would arise! Think about it, women are delicate flowers, not whatever she is.” The sheriff then pointed at y/n. “Woman should not be allowed in Saloons if you ask me, too rough for em.” He explained. “Besides, what are you to her, sir? Her father?”

“Y-Yes-“

“What type of father would raise their daughter like that?” He snapped at him.

“Well listen here-“

“Ughhhh.” Y/n groaned loudly, sitting up, rubbing her head. She looked up and noticed Arthur, y/n grumbled his name underneath her breath but then she noticed, that bars were in front of her. “Huh?” She questioned, rubbing her hazy eyes, she unfocused on Arthur and noticed she was in a jail-cell, y/n looked around completely confused and Arthur looked pissed with her, y/n jumped up a bit.

“Well good morning sweetheart.” The Sheriff said sassily.

“Where am I-“ Y/n interrupted herself, hissing in pain, she had a throbbing headache. She just felt her brain pounding in the inside of her skull, she grabbed onto her head and rolled over. “D-damn! What is this headache?” She grumbled, she felt her mouth becoming dry and sweat rolling down her face.

“What? Never had a hangover?” The Sheriff asked her, he then pointed at Arthur. “Do you know him, ma’am?”

“Who?” Y/n questioned, rubbing her head, shutting her eyes to try and avoid the sunlight.

“This man right here.” He responded y/n looked up to see Arthur. He was glaring at her, his blue hues were sharp and unforgiving, y/n looked at him a bit stunned. She looked back up at the sheriff, for some reason she had a sudden wave of fear of Arthur. Y/n gulped, sweat rolling down her face, she knew that if she went with Arthur well…y/n’s death will be next.

“I've never seen that man in my life.” Y/n responded, Arthur’s eyes widen in shock and it was just like a snap in a change of emotion.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY, GIRL?!” Arthur shouted at her. “She’s lyin!” Arthur said pointing at y/n while y/n shook her head pointing back at Arthur.

“No, I ain’t-“

“I’ll pay the bail.” Arthur told the Sheriff, y/n looked over at him, he seemed inclined to take the offer. Y/n’s face turned pale, getting up from the bench she grabbed onto the bar and tried to appeal to the Sheriff.

“Sir, please I don’t know this man! I-I”

“That’s enough from you,” The Sheriff interrupted her, putting his hand up to tell y/n to hush up. He then looked back at Arthur and had a smug look nodding. “Alright, sir-“

“HUH? I thought you was supposed to serve and protect your citizens! Is this how you treat ‘em? Sellin’ em to random folk on the street-“ Y/n was interrupted by the Sheriff smacking the bars causing y/n to step back.

“I’m responsible for keepin’ the peace! You’re a young woman drinkin’ if you ask me you ain’t nothing more than dirt for that! Beatin’ up random folk, almost beating a man to death!” He shouted at her, y/n’s face turned pale, she didn’t remember any of that.

“H-Huh? I never-“

“We caught you redhanded!” The Sheriff told her bluntly, he then turned his attention to Arthur who paid y/n’s bail. She was shocked and puzzled, y/n looked down at her fist, they were still bruised and they had some stains of blood. Y/n saw her reflection and noticed dried blood on her face, some bruises, and cuts on her face. She slowly looked away a bit terrified of herself, she didn’t know that drinks could make her into something so reckless and dangerous.

“Come on out.” The Sheriff interrupted y/n’s train of thought unlocking the cell, y/n walked out and looked at the Sheriff.

“Is he okay?” She asked him.

“Who?”

“The man…”

“Course he is, you’re a woman, you can’t kill a man.” He told her bluntly.

“I-I” Y/n was interrupted by Arthur snatching her by the arm and pulled her out of the jail, y/n winced a bit in pain. His nails were digging into her skin, she looked away from Arthur to avoid the sheer anger in his eyes. Y/n had no idea what she did to make him so angry, all she could remember was drinking a lot and then all of a sudden after that she couldn’t remember much. Arthur shoved her to a wall that was hidden in the alleyway, glaring at her.

“What the hell is wrong with you, girl?” He growled at her, y/n looked away from him, shivering a bit. “Answer me!” He shouted at her, slamming his palm next to y/n’s face, she jumped up a bit and looked up to him. Y/n made eye contact with him, her mouth was quivering, she never felt so terrified of him.

“I-I…I dunno.” Y/n stuttered, her hands were shaking, sweat rolling down her face.

“Look at chu! Fighting like an adult, this ain’t games we playin’ here, little girl.” He sneered at y/n, she nodded.

“I-I know I..I dunno what happened.” Y/n responded.

“Your face is bruised up, cuts, now tell me what the hell happened last night!” He growled at her, he was leaning in closer to y/n to get a good look at her, y/n looked away from him. “You reek of whiskey and cigarettes, now tell me what the hell happened last night? Who did you fight? Who hit you back? Who-“

“Stop askin me!” Y/n shouted at him, slamming his arm away from her. “I dunno Mr. Morgan! I was drunk I don’t remember anything, I don’t even remember what I did!” She shouted at him, clenching her fist, y/n tried to calm herself down, breathing in and out. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, she was terrified of herself, of what she had done.

“Listen to me girl, how do you know _her_ name?” Arthur asked her, looking at her. Y/n shrugged, not knowing who he was referring to, she glanced back over at him.

“Whose name?”

“You know exactly who I’m talkin’ about…”

“No, I don’t-“

“Mary’s!” He shouted at her, y/n’s face turned pale, she looked away from him.

“I dunno who she is-“

“Folk have been telling me you’ve been asking around for her, Mary Linton.” He confronted her, walking towards her. Y/n’s body started to shake, she didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know her-“

“Stop lying.”

“I…” Yn let out a long sigh, she knew there was no way around this she turned back to him. “I read a letter she sent you, I only read her name.” Y/n responded, looking directly at him, her heart pounding. “I know who she was to you…she was your ex.” Arthur’s ears perked up, he wasn’t expecting that. “I’m sorry…I was drunk Mr. Morgan. I didn’t know any better, I didn’t even know who I was.” Y/n told him honestly, looking away from him. “That’s all I can say.”

“You don’t know her.” He told her bluntly, shaking his head. “Why did you keep asking around? When you drunk it brings out what you truly want.” He told her bluntly. _“Cause you don’t know no better.”_

“I-I guess…I wanted to know her.” Y/n responded, shrugging.

“...That all...?” He asked her.

“Yeah.” Y/n responded. “I wanted to know who she was…I was curious.”

“I…” Arthur sighed, running hands through his hair, he folded his arms above his chest. “She ain’t important-“

“She is..to you.” Y/n told him bluntly, Arthur looked up to her, he wasn’t expecting y/n to be assertive. “Lemme just ask one thing…how was she like? I won’t ask nothing else, that’s all I wanna ask.” Arthur sighed, he knew y/n wasn’t gonna give up as easily, he looked up to her, she was determined.

“She was…beautiful….too good for me.” He told her, rubbing his hands together. “She was…everything that I wanted to be.” He said softly. “That’s all.” Y/n’s ears perked up, she felt her heart pounding out of her chest, her mouth quivering. She held her hand up to try and comfort him but she lowered it down, looking away from him.

“I’m sorry Mr. Morgan I-“

“Come on girl, let’s just get you cleaned up.” He told her, he walked to her slowly and treated her with more care. He gently grabbed onto y/n’s wrist and led her back to camp on his horse. The entire ride back was silent, no one spoke a word, all that could be heard was the horse galloping.

“Miss L/n!” Karen shouted while Arthur got her off of his horse, y/n smiled weakly and waved at them. “Where have you been?” She asked her, y/n shrugged with a nervous grin.

“Out...” Y/n responded.

“Y/n!” Sadie called to her running up to her, she noticed how roughed up y/n look. She looked back at Arthur who only avoided eye contact with her, she sighed. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” She told her, y/n nodded, letting out a soft sigh, while she was walking back Arthur looked back at her. He felt guilty for shouting at her, but he couldn’t control himself. He wished he could’ve done better but he couldn’t.

Susan noticed y/n how dirty she was, she went over to help her with cleaning her up. They had a large barrel for y/n to bathe in, they used blankets to give her some sort of cover, Karen helped y/n out of her clothes and noticed a couple of bruises in her stomach.

“Y/n what the hell happened to you?” She asked her.

“I got drunk.” Y/n responded.

“Are those…hickies?” She grumbled noticing love bites on y/n’s neck, y/n looked a bit shocked herself, running her fingers against them. “Jesus…” Y/n rubbed her face, she still had a pounding headache and didn’t wanna question it anymore, just then she felt something poking her underneath her breast, y/n grumbled softly, going through her binding and pulled out 10 dollars.

“W-Was you selling yourself?” Susan asked her.

“I-I don’t think so…” Y/n grumbled, pulling out her leftover money from her pockets.

“I don’t think you should drink anymore.” Susan joked with her, trying to lift up y/n’s spirits, y/n chuckled softly nodding.

“Neither do I, I can take a bath by myself, ya’ll can go.” She told them.

“Okay…” Susan said putting a bucket next to y/n, leaving y/n.

“Just holler if you need anything,” Karen told her following Susan out, Sadie looked at y/n a bit concerned.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Y/n assured her.

“I’ll be right outside, just in case that asshole Micha tries to bother you,” Sadie told her with a soft grin, y/n smiled back and nodded, Sadie left y/n alone. She let out a long sigh looking down at herself she saw all of the bruises on her body and hickeys. She reeked of alcohol, dirt, cigarettes, and gun smoke, y/n went inside of the barrel to take that badly needed bath.

Arthur noticed Susan outside and walked up to her, he was concerned for y/n and he had to ask her a few things.

“How is she?”

“Well she’s fine,” Susan responded. “The girl had a couple of bruises and cuts, nothing short from a regular old bar fight, but other than that she’s fine,” Susan assured Arthur who nodded a bit more content, his muscles relaxed a bit sending Susan a small nod.

“Thank you.”

“I dunno what the hell happened but at least this proves that y/n can fight, even if she was drunk,” Susan grumbled.

“I ain’t gonna allow that to happen again,” Arthur grumbled. “At least not without supervision, the damn girl almost beat a man to death!”

“Did they tell you why?”

“No, they didn’t,” Arthur responded.

“Listen, that girl is…she…” Susan sighed, shaking her head. “we found love bites all over her neck when she was undressing.” She explained. Arthur’s face turned pale his blue hues widen, he felt a sudden hit of anger, he couldn’t believe it. _'What the hell happened to her last night.'_


	11. "So Unfair"

Y/n sat in the bath washing off all the dirt from her body, she watched the clear water slowly becoming dirty. She would remember how she used to take a bath daily and the maids would help wash her, put her in big old fancy dresses, do her hair, makeup, her entire life y/n never had to lift a finger, yet now things couldn’t be even more different. She had to get her hands dirty for the first time. Y/n stared at her reflection on the water, she noticed the bruises and cuts she had, she ran her fingers over them.

“I’m starting to regret those drinks…” Y/n grumbled to herself, she then noticed more love bites on her body, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disgusted with herself, sinking into the water, glaring at them. There was nothing more that she could do though it was in the past and sadly y/n couldn’t remember much from last night. She let out a long sigh to try and relax, leaning back she looked up to the blue sky. She couldn’t help but remember at the way Arthur stared at her, the way he looked at her, the fact that he didn’t ask if she was alright but instead wanted to interrogate her. Y/n grumbled to herself, rolling over to her side to look at the blankets that were covering her, where she could see the shadow of Sadie. She let out a long sigh running her hands through her hair, she had to calm herself down.

Every time she’s alone she thinks and thinks until all of her fantasied theories seem true, she was an over thinker and she was over thinking again.

“Mary Linton…” Y/n muttered softly to herself, putting her finger right underneath her chin. “She seems…so…important to him…”

“-Y/n!”

“Huh?” Y/n then perked up and saw the shadow of Abigail in front of her.

“Are you done yet? I wanna go over somethings-about the medical stuff.” Y/n let out a long sigh, she pulled herself out of the barrel of water and started to put on her clothes.

“Yeah, I’ll be out soon.” Y/n responded to her.

Arthur looked at Susan, not knowing how to respond, he felt guilty and ashamed. He wanted to ask her if she was alright but he couldn’t, his temper the best of him again. It’s almost like he’s at constant war with himself, like all he can do is just get angry that his anger one day will get the best of him…but only this time shoots will be fired.

“Listen Arthur…this girl…she’s…something different…she ain’t like the rest of us.” Susan explained to Arthur, putting her hand over his shoulder. “I don’t think this life is right for her, her entire life she’s been sheltered…now…she can’t even drink responsibly.”

“What are you tryna say?”

“I ain’t saying that I don’t like the girl it’s just…” Susan sighed, rubbed her hands together, she was trying her best to understand how she could tell Arthur, how she can bring her words to a sentence. “I’m just tryna think what’s best for her, Y/n is still very young, beautiful, and well she still has a family, her husband may have died but she said nothing about her family,” Susan explained. “I feel like the longer we keep her in the gang, the faster her gravestone will arrive.”

“Bring her back to her family? The same family that married her off when the damn girl was just 16 to a 26-year-old man?” Arthur asked her, a bit aggressively, clenching his fist and biting down on his teeth.

“Maybe it’s more complicated than that.” Susan tried to reason with Arthur. “We don’t know how these rich folk act, we don’t know the full story, please Arthur.” Susan pleaded with him, grabbing onto his arm. “I know you said you’ll take care of her but…please…just consider it?” Arthur looked at Susan, she looked serious. He grumbled, nodding before snatching his arm back. He didn’t want another case of Jenny, the brothers, or anyone else. He didn’t want y/n to die quickly because she wasn’t ready for this life, even if she thinks she’s ready. Just then he spotted y/n coming out, she was cleaned up and was wearing the new clothes that she bought and Abigail was right there next to each other. The two were speaking about medical things, y/n was informing Abigail how to treat bites and other animal inflicted wounds. Arthur stared at y/n, she looked perfectly fine, she wasn’t walking funny, it would've been impossible to tell that she was hungover.

“What are you staring at?” Charles asked Arthur, he perked up and turned around to look at him.

“Nothing Mr. Smith,” Arthur responded, rubbing his mouth and looking away from y/n. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, first of all, telling me the truth is one thing,” Charles responded bluntly, folding his arms above his chest. Arthur looked back at Charles a bit shocked at how quickly he was able out to call out on his bullshit.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you look troubled, something wrong big guy?” Charles asked him, he looked a bit concerned for him. Arthur let out a long sigh, shaking his head, not knowing how to respond.

“I’ve been thinkin’ is all…” Arthur grumbled.

“Didn’t know you were a thinker.” Charles joked Arthur looked back at him chuckling.

“I ain’t one, it’s just these are one of the rare occasions.” He joked back, Charles nods.

“So what’s on your mind?”

There was a long moment of silence, Arthur looked up to Charles, he didn’t know if he wanted to tell him the truth, then again Charles was a good man, a wise one too. If anyone could help him with his thoughts it was him, Hosea would probably tell him something along the lines of, ‘Talk to Dutch’.

“It’s about the girl.” Arthur sighed out.

“The girl? You mean Y/n?”

“Yeah…Ms. Grimshaw was enlightin’ me about something.”

“Which was?”

“If she can handle this type of life,” Arthur responded.

“Do you think she can?”

“I dunno…What do you think?”

“What do I think? I think she just needs guidance like the rest of us.”

“But the thing is, her family ain’t dead it’s just-“

“The same family that forced her into a marriage? You wanna take her back there?”

“Well…Maybe it’s better now.” Arthur responded, shaking his head.

“I think you should ask her yourself-“

“I can’t though…we are…on rocky terms.”

“Do you want me to ask her?”

“No, I can’t-“

“I can it’s just a simple question-“

“I wanna ask her.” He cut Charles off, before letting out a long sigh. “It’s complicated…”

“Well I can’t answer for her, you need to ask her yourself,” Charles told him bluntly.

“I know.”

“Well I gotta get going, Dutch wanted me to do something, see you around.”

“See ya.”

Charles then left Arthur to be alone with his thoughts, he watched Charles going off to speak with Dutch before returning his attention to y/n, she was showing Abigail a thread and needle, gesturing with it before showing her the gun wound while Abigail nodded, taking notes.

“Does it hurt?” Abigail asked y/n, starring at the wound.

“No, not really, you see it might not look pretty but it still does the job, just think of it as sewing clothes together.” Y/n told Abigail, while her eyes were just glued onto the wound. it was red and she could see the thread keeping the wound together.

“Do you have to clean it?”

“Of course I do, it’s like any old wound.” Y/n then turned back to see Arthur glancing at her, he quickly looked away from her, y/n grumbled shaking her head. Y/n looked away from Arthur, she couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt at the way he reacted to her, not even a hello or are you okay? Nope. Just questions about Mary of course.

“Is…everything alright?” Abigail asked y/n, noticing her sudden change of emotion.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Y/n responded with a fake smile to try and fool Abigail and herself. “It’s just I’m still a bit woozy from all of the drinking.” Y/n explained to her.

“Would you like to take a quick break?” Abigail asked y/n.

“No I’m fine, I was just gonna go and shoot at some animals or something later on.” Y/n explained to Abigail.

“Don’t you want to invite Arthur?”

“I don’t wanna bother him-“

“I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Oh, I’m sure he will.” Y/n grumbled a bit sassily, she looked back to Abigail and shrugged. “I just think…I need to be by myself.”

“Well, ya can’t shoot without a gun,” Abigail told her bluntly.

“I know I’ll ask Mr. Escullea if I can borrow his gun again.” Y/n responded.

_“Y/n!” Her drunken husband called to her from across the room, she glared at him. They were getting ready to host a big fancy party, the mayor was even going to be at their house, and y/n was trying her best to get ready quickly. Y/n sighed, trying to keep calm, she knew better than to let her mouth run off._

_“Do you like this dress, ma'am?” A maid asked y/n, showing her a fancy dress, the truth is y/n hated the fancy clothing, she thought they were impractical and hideous to look at. However, they were a staple in their social class, to prove how rich they were. The dress was made out of the finest silk, the dress was a light pink and it was button up all the way up to her collarbone. She smiled at the maid and nodded, the maid helped y/n into the corset and dress. Y/n looked at herself in the mirror, the truth is, she liked doing her makeup by herself, it made her feel…normal even if it was for a split second. Luckily she was allowed to because the rest of the maids were a bit too busy. Just then y/n’s drunken husband barged into the restroom, slamming the door open, y/n perked up, standing up she watched Joseph clumsily make his way towards her._

_“D-Dear, you need to get yourself sober up, the guest will be here any moment.” She told her with a forced smile, stepping away from her husband, Joseph just chuckled loudly, slamming his glass of whiskey on the floor._

_“Come here beautiful.” He then hiccuped, holding y/n tightly from behind, holding onto her chest and kissing the nape of her neck. Y/n gulped, sweat rolling down her face, her heart was beating out of her chest. “You look so beautiful..” He whispered into y/n’s ear, she stepped away from him._

_“I have to get ready.” Y/n told him bluntly, looking back at the mirror putting on some earrings._

_“You look fineeee.”_

_“The mayor is going to be here…we have to look our best-:”_

_“What I ain’t good enough for ya?”_

_“I never said that-“_

_“I know what you think of me…” He said y/n looked back at him a bit puzzled at what else he had to say. Joseph only nodded with a big grin on his face, tapping his temple with a smug look before pointing at her. “This old drunk, aint’ nothing, I deserve better.” He chuckled to himself._

_“I don’t think that.” Y/n responded softly._

_“That’s what you want me to think but you seem to forget something…” He then walked up to y/n, she stood still not knowing what to do or what else to say, his arms were trapping her in, pinning her against the wall, he had a smug look to him. “I own you…I bought you, you’re my property.” He told her bluntly, y/n looked at him terrified._

_“I-I”_

_“Don’t you look at me with those eyes.” He told her interrupting y/n, he then chuckled and started to laugh loudly._

_“J-Joseph please let me just get finished putting on my makeup-“_

_“Don’t speak over me.” Joseph snarled at her, leaning in against her, his breath reeked of whiskey and cigars._

_“I-I-“_

_“Shut up!” Joseph shouted at her, punching y/n in the cheek, her body was flung back a bit from the force. Y/n looked up to him, tears rolling down her face, holding onto her cheek. She wanted to scream and cry out but she couldn’t for some reason her voice didn’t work anymore, her body was trembling, that was the first time she was ever hit by Joseph. “I told you to not speak over me…” He told her bluntly, y/n panted softly nodding. “Listen…you ain’t shit girl.” Joseph whispered into her ear, pulling her hair back. Y/n gulped, nodding, her heart was pounding out of her chest, panting softly. “What are you?”_

_“I’m nothing.”_

_“Who do you belong to?”_

_“You, I belong to you.”_

_“Good, now get that cleaned up, I don’t wanna see that disgusting thing during dinner.” He growled at her walking towards the door, y/n nodded, grabbing onto her cheek, sobbing softly she got up and walked over to her vanity and put makeup over her new bruise with tears rolling down her face she forced a smile on her face._

_“Let me just say I am thankful for my amazing husband, Joseph Jones, he is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am so happy for us. I could never be more satisfied with my darling husband. Cheers!” Y/n said with a large fake grin, rising up her wine glass, the rest of the guests cheered with her, Joseph smiled at y/n and held onto her hand, standing up next to her._

_“Cheers!” He said, before giving y/n a kiss on the lips, tears slowly rolled down her face._

_“Mrs. Jones…Why are you crying?” The mayor’s wife asked y/n, she looked back over at her and smiled._

_“I’m just sad I didn’t meet him sooner.” Y/n lied, her hands were trembling, she was fearful and nervous. She didn’t want to embarrass her family name or get hurt again. She just had to look pretty and smile, that was her job, that’s all she was worth._


	12. "I Hate The Thought Of You With Somebody Else"

Y/n headed out to the forest, of course with her little knowledge of tracking she was able to find some luck, she spotted a rabbit, it was large and most likely an adult. Y/n let out a long sigh, she took out Javier’s rifle that he lender her and aimed at the rabbit, she felt herself trembling but she knew better. She knew that if she was gonna be apart of the gang she can’t be afraid to kill, it was just part of the job application. Y/n stared down at the rabbit, it didn’t seem to notice y/n, it’s ears twitching while its nose was sniffling. The rabbit looked around, it’s large dark eyes trying to find some food. Y/n put her index finger on the trigger, her breathing was slow and shallow.

 _“‘One life to help a group.”’_ Y/n whispered Arthur’s words to herself, for some reason it just made her feel calm, his wise words just spoke to her, they were simple but full of wisdom. Just like that y/n pushed the trigger, the rabbit's body tumbled, a clean shot right in-between its eyes. Y/n smiled to herself, giving herself a pat on the back before picking up the rabbit and stowing it on (horse name). She patted the horse with a hand over her hip, she couldn’t help but have a boost in confidence.

“Would ya look at that, I shot a rabbit I didn’t even feel as nervous!” Y/n said with a big grin on her face, her horse neighed in response, y/n got back on her horse and rode him around the forest, she wanted to take a small stroll. Y/n looked at the blue sky, the birds chirping, she still can’t help but think of Arthur. “You know, I wonder if that Mary is around here.” She told her horse, shaking her head. “I mean I’m sure she cares about him, after all why the hell write him a letter?” Y/n tried to reason with herself. “Ain’t that, right? Why waste someone’s time and your own time for someone you don’t care about!” Y/n grumbled, shaking her head. “…I wonder if they… _did it.”_ Y/n muttered softly, her face slowly turning red. She was fantasizing of Arthur, imagining grunts, moans, the faces he would make while sweat rolled down his face. (Horse name) then neighed, getting y/n out of her sinful fantasies, she shook her head violently, her heart pounding out of her chest. _“Shit.”_ Y/n grumbled, she knew she was thinking of him and y/n would be lying if she said she didn’t lust over it. She leaned against her horse, her elbows propped against her saddle, her heart was still racing.

Why was she feeling like this?

She just wanted to shout and scream, her heart pounding out of her chest. She hated the thought of him with someone else, the thought that he used to be with another woman, the thought that he touched a woman, the fact he had one, or even just the name, _Mary Morgan._ Y/n clenched her fist, bitting down on her bottom lip, her hands were shaking from the anxiety.

 _‘Why am I feeling like this?’_ Y/n thought to herself. _‘Why can’t I control myself? Why do I-No…stop thinking y/n…stop thinking…stop it.’_

Arthur was back at camp, he noticed that y/n was already out and about, alone. He wished that he was able to join her but, he knew better, he knew that y/n didn’t want to speak to him. It was obvious, to say the least. He went to his bed, sitting down he pulled out the letter that Mary had sent him, the letter felt truthful and worrisome.

It was about her little brother, Jamie joining a questionable cult and her begging him to bring him back home. He ran his fingers over Mary’s terrible handwriting, he knew he was a fool, and so was she. Writing to him after so long, but he felt…different. He wasn’t jumping up in joy but he felt…nothing, it was like she was just a ghost from the past. Arthur grumbled to himself, shaking his head, he could still remember Mary and the fun they used to have, the love and spark they had that was just gone.

“Somethin’ troublin’ you, son?” Dutch asked him, sitting down next to him, Arthur looked up a bit shocked at the sudden appearance of Dutch, he folded the letter and put into his back pocket.

“I was just reading a letter Mary sent me.” He explained.

“Mary? Like _your_ Mary?” Dutch asked him, Arthur chuckled shaking his head.

“She ain’t mine no more.”

“Ah…you’re right, she’s married now.” Dutch grumbled. “Well, what did it say?”

“ _Somethang_ about Jamie him joinin’ some cult,” Arthur explained.

“Are you gonna go over there?”

“Guess so,” Arthur responded standing up, he put some canned foods into his satchel. “I’ve always like the boy, I can’t just let him ruin his life.”

“I see you still care about her then…maybe you two could be back together,” Dutch told Arthur, he looked over his shoulder and shrugged.

_“Maybe…”_

Y/n was on the ground now in the forest, she was relaxing with her horse, munching on an apple she had stored. Every time she closed her eyes she just thought of Arthur, she had this strange feeling she hasn’t felt in a long time. She didn’t even feel it for her husband, this was something different. She felt like she has been…cheated in a strange way, that she was given the shorthand of the stick.

All of a sudden y/n heard a flock of birds flying away, y/n sat up and watched a man on a horse riding off, y/n titled her head to the side, she could’ve sworn he looked familiar. Y/n squinted, standing up and leaning in closer, she knew that hat, she knew that hat anywhere.

_“A-Arthur?”_

He looked like he was in a rush, riding his horse as fast as possible, y/n knew she couldn’t be doing what she was about to do, but she couldn’t help it. She had no self-control over herself, she knew better, she got back on her horse and followed him. She felt ashamed of herself for doing so, but it didn’t matter to her, she just wanted to just take a small peek. She followed him, quietly and sneakily, after a bit he stopped at a two-story ranch house, he got off his horse and knocked on the door, y/n assumed it was for bonds that Strauss told him to get. She was hidden away by the bushes and trees she watched a woman answer the door the two spoke for a bit before another woman appeared, y/n looked at her, she couldn’t help but feel like something was up with those two.

Arthur looked at Mary, she looked grateful and even a bit happy to see him, she smiled at him. Arthur couldn’t help but admit that she had aged well, she was still just as beautiful as he remembered, Arthur took off his hat as a way to show respect.

“Mary.” He simply said.

“A-Arthur…” She stuttered, she looked away for a split moment before looking back into his crystal blue eyes. “It’s been awhile.”

“It has, over 10 years now.”

“How have you been? Are you still…well, you know…”

“An outlaw?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Course I am, it’s in my blood, are you still with uh…what was his name…”

“Bary..no he’s dead,” Mary responded.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m a widow now, Arthur. Not that that matters, you know we coulda had somethin’…”

“Stop with the sweet talk, we both know that I’m here for the boy.” He responded.

“Yes please, help him, Arthur.” Mary begged, holding onto his hands, her dark brown eyes staring into his blue ones. She looked desperate like this was the only thing she could do. Arthur looked away, he still felt something for Mary…or maybe he didn’t, he was a fool with himself. “Arthur Jamie…h-he’s easily persuaded…”

“I dunno Mary…”

“C’mon, you know you were his best friend,” Mary added.

“I liked the kid…out all of your judgmental family,” Arthur grumbled.

“Arthur, please it wasn’t like that-“

“That I wasn’t good enough for ya?” Arthur snarled at her, Mary stepped back a bit, she wasn’t expecting that outburst. He sighed, he knew that his anger was taking over again, he stepped back from Mary. “Er…listen look, do you know a girl named, y/n l/n?”

“Y/n…” Mary muttered, she shook her head. “Not that I can recall.”

“Huh.”

“Why?”

“No reason-“

“Is she…?” Mary then gave him a look, Arthur quickly grew defensive shaking his head violently.

“Course not! She’s young enough to be my daughter.” He told her. “Look, I’ll go get your brother back-“

“Oh thank you, Arthur! But I don’t have any money-“

“Don’t worry about that, lemme just get your brother back,” Arthur told her, Mary smiled at him and nodded he went back onto his horse and rode off to look for Jamie.

Y/n watched Arthur ride away, she looked back at the woman, she watched him leave, her hands over her heart. Y/n couldn’t help but feel a bit aggressive, she glared at her, raising an eyebrow. She found herself comparing to Mary, in a very negative way.

Mary was sweet, _she was sarcastic._

Mary was soft, _she was blunt._

Mary was kind, _she was sassy._

Mary could touch Arthur, _she could not._

Mary had a life, _she lost hers._

Mary was pretty, _she was not._ (I’m sure you’re pretty reader don’t take that to heart! <3)

But most importantly, _Arthur cared for Mary, Arthur didn’t care about her._

Y/n rubbed her hands together to try and calm herself down, y/n got back onto her horse and followed him. She watched him, she saw that they held hands, it was…heartbreaking for her. Y/n had to just know, she just…wanted to know for sure that Arthur didn’t have feelings for another person. _“Damn it.”_ Y/n grumbled to herself, she wanted to beg Arthur to-no…it was too soon.

Arthur made it to where Jamie was he walked over to him and their strange group to try and reason with them. Jamie looked back at Arthur a bit shocked to see the man.

“Arthur?”

“Jamie-“

“Who are you?” One of the men asked stepping in front of Arthur.

“I’m here for the boy.” He responded.

“Hm…do you know him, young Jamie?” The man asked Jamie, who nodded.

“I used to.” He responded.

“Look, Jamie, your sister is worried about you, she just wants to make sure-“

“You talked to Mary?”

“She sent me here, just come with me-“

“I don’t wanna-“

“Jamie-“

“Leave me alone!” Jamie then ran off on his horse, Arthur growled, he was growing frustrated he got onto his horse to chase after him. The duo rode right past y/n who was hiding behind a large tree, she followed the two but by the time she caught up with them, Jamie had a gun pointed to his head, y/n’s eyes widen, she wasn’t expecting this. She looked around to see if she could help in some sort of way but Javier’s rifle couldn’t shoot that far away y/n grabbed onto a rock she found and was about to throw it at him but before she could Arthur shot the gun out of his hand. Y/n’s mouth flung over, she was impressed at just how quickly he was about to shoot the gun out of his hand. The two men went back on Arthur’s horse and rode back to Mary’s, y/n stood there stunned, looking back at the train tracks.

“I outta leave him…” Y/n muttered softly to herself, she looked over to her horse who looked back at her, she smiled softly, patting him. “What the hell is wrong with me?” She asked him with a pitiful look.

Arthur was taking Jamie back to Mary escorted them to the train station, of course, Jamie tossed a bunch of questions about him and Mary. He was getting a bit annoyed at how quickly Jamie was assuming things.

“No, your sister and I ain’t getting back together, we rode that path already.” He told him bluntly.

“You know she loved you…right?”

“Listen Jamie things are…complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

“Complicated in…your sister and I were fools in love, now we are grown up she’s changed but I will never change.” He told him bluntly, Jamie sighed nodding.

“You’re right…you like being an outlaw huh? Maybe I should join!”

“If you were to join me your sister would murder me on the spot.”

“On the spot huh? Have you met anyone else?”

Arthur had a quick flashback of y/n, he shook his head to respond to Jamie’s question. The ride to the train station was short enough, before they know it Jamie was on the train with his sister. Tears were shed, hugs were given, and Mary thanked him. Arthur handed her the bags while Jamie was already on the train. Arthur was about to leave but Mary called for him, he turned around.

“A-Arthur…” She stared at him, her brown eyes turning soft, she sighed shaking her head. _“Who am I kidding, you’ll never change.”_ She then went back in the train, Arthur looked at her. He felt a bit remorseful, he knew the pain that he caused her, how long she had to just hope that he was coming back alive or how long she had to hide…how long he neglected her. He chuckled to himself, lighting up a cigarette and riding his horse back to camp. 


	13. "Slow Dancing In The Dark"

Y/n made it to camp before Arthur, she still had memories of Arthur and that woman that he was with. Y/n saw that they held hands, even if it was just for a split moment. She let out a long depressed sigh, taking the rabbit off of (horse name), Javier interrupted y/n’s train of thought.

“You got my rifle back?” He asked her.

“Oh yeah…” Y/n responded giving him his rifle back, he thanked her and noticed the fresh rabbit.

“Oh hey, I see Arthur’s been teaching you well.” He said pointing at the rabbit, y/n smiled and looked at the rabbit, she was still pretty proud of her first hunt by herself.

“I guess he has…” She muttered softly, Javier looked at his rifle and then at y/n. He smiled and gave her the rifle back, y/n looked at him a bit puzzled. “Isn’t this your’s?”

“It was.”

“Huh?”

“I’m giving it to you y/n.” He told him with a smile, chuckling a bit.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am.”

“But don’t you need it?”

“Nah, I have another rifle that’s a lot better than that old thing, just think about it as a gift.” He told her bluntly.

“Like a ‘Welcoming gift’?” Y/n asked him.

“Is that what you rich people call it?”

“Basically but…I would never imagine I would have a rifle of my own…” She trailed off and then looked up to Javier with a big smile on her face, she couldn’t contain herself, she hugged him tightly. “Thank you so much Mr. Escuela.”

“You’re welcome…” Javier said awkwardly lifting his arms up before awkwardly patting her on the back, he wasn’t expecting y/n to be so thankful for the small gift. Y/n smiled at him her smile was ear to ear. She grabbed onto the rifle as her life depended on it.

“Y/n are you busy?” Mr. Pearson called to her, y/n let Javier go and excused herself before going to Mr. Pearson, he was getting ready to cook the stew.

“What can I do for ya?” Y/n asked him.

“Can ya go to the store real quick? I need some fresh carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers.’ He told her, y/n nodded, putting the rifle onto her back by the strap. She went back onto her horse to ride into Valentine, once she went there she walked into the general store. She found the things that Mr. Pearson was asking for, she got a bag of each she then paid for it. Once she was out of the store she ran into Arthur. Y/n smiled awkwardly and waved at him, she felt her heart beating a mile a minute. She felt so nervous, her hands were getting clammy, she was shaking in her boots.

“What ‘chu you doing here, girl?”

“Buying things for Mr. Pearson.” Y/n responded, lifting up the bags to show the veggies. “Did you just come back from collecting some bonds?” She asked him, Arthur looked at her a bit confused.

“I didn’t get no bonds.” He responded.

“Y-You didn’t?” Y/n stuttered.

“I didn’t…where the hell did you run off to?” He asked her. “I asked Karen and she told me that you went, out.” He told her, y/n nodded looking away from him.

“I did go out.”

“Where?”

“Don’t worry about it-“

“Don’t say that to me.”

“Stop askin’ me these questions.” Y/n hissed at him underneath her breath, she couldn’t help herself, sending him a glare. She lost her self-control, for some reason she grew aggressive at him. Arthur looked back at her, a bit hurt from y/n’s glare, she furrowed her eyebrows and sighed.

“Mr. Morgan-“ Y/n was interrupted by Arthur, he shook his head.

“I’m sorry I was just…” He trailed off, he looked uncomfortable, looking around the store but y/n, who seemed puzzled and naive. She had no idea what the hell was going on him. _“W-Worried.”_

“Worried?”

“Yea, you’re reckless girl. Recklessness is the biggest sin.” He told her bluntly, y/n’s heart flutter just a bit, she was so shocked and even a bit flattered. She didn’t think he was gonna say that to hurt, she thought that he was just gonna dismiss her.

“I’m sorry.” Y/n apologized.

“L-Look I outta be sorry I-I…” He looked at y/n, blushing a bit he looked away coughing awkwardly, looking at y/n’s bags and pointed at one. “Need help with one of ‘em bags?” He asked her.

“Sure…” Y/n responded, Arthur, nodded and picked up two of the bags like they were nothing and went over to his horse to stow them onto him, y/n did the same to her horse and the two rode into camp. Y/n glanced over at him, she wanted to know what else he wanted to say but it was obvious he wasn't gonna let up. 

It was later that night and Javier was playing his guitar, not for any reason but for the hell of it. Y/n smiled and listened, nodding her head while she tapped her foot along the beat. John and Abigail were slow dancing a bit to his soulful voice. Y/n glanced over at the couple, they seemed happy and only looked at each other, Abigail never had seemed so happy before, it almost looked like they were young lovebirds. Although y/n would never admit it she was a bit jealous about Abigail and John’s relationship, the one thing she could never have was true love like that.

Jack was dancing along as well with Mary-Beth. Y/n enjoyed the small moments like this, everyone gathered up around the campfire to listen to Javier’s singing, having some drinks and joking around. Javier was singing slowly and soulful, it was very calm and almost like a lullbly. Y/n was so distracted that she didn’t notice Sadie standing in front of her with her hand out. Y/n looked up to her brown eyes a bit confused, Sadie just had a large smile on her face.

“What is it?”

“I want you to dance,” Sadie responded.

“I don’t dance.”

“Awe c’mon you never know unless you try.”

Y/n looked at her hand and then back at Sadie, she looked very hopefully and had a big grin on her face. With a smile like that y/n had to smile back, she chuckled shaking her head.

“I-Uh dunno how to dance.”

“I’m shocked!” Sadie said over dramatically pretending to faint, y/n laughed shaking her head. Y/n felt a bit better, that was the power that Sadie had over her, she could just smile and y/n would feel a lot better. It was true though, y/n wasn’t one to dance, even when she was married she and Joseph never danced much. Y/n sighed softly and shook her head, taking Sadie’s hand, Sadie let out a chuckle pulling her close to her. “Alright I’ll lead the way,” Sadie said holding onto y/n’s hand while the other hand wrapped around y/n’s upper back, y/n awkwardly put her hand over Sadie’s shoulder. “Just follow my lead,” Sadie assured her, y/n sighed softly letting Sadie lead the way. She followed Sadie’s movements, left to right, right to left, it seemed a bit easy to get of a hang of even though y/n stepped on her boots every once and awhile. Sadie spun y/n around allowing y/n to dance by herself, she felt awkward, standing there. Sadie only sent her a reassuring smile, dancing a bit to give y/n a bit of confidence, she only chuckled softly, rubbing her forearm awkwardly. She looked around, everyone else was still dancing, even Sean joined in with Karen. Y/n closed her eyes and danced a bit, nothing too big, swaying around with a faint blush on her face, laughing to herself.

Arthur looked up and watched y/n dancing she seemed happy and calm, he couldn’t help but watch her from underneath his hat. A small smile was creeping up on his mouth, making his heart flutter, y/n was dancing back with Sadie but for some reason he just imagined himself dancing with her instead. How would he hold her by the hips, pulling her close to him, her arms over his shoulder, wrapped around his neck while he will just stare into her eyes, lovingly... He would whisper sweet nothings, and y/n would smile putting her head above his chest. Arthur just wanted to hold her close to him, pull her in and just hold her, that’s all. Arthur shook his head to try and clear his thoughts, he had to control himself, besides a man like him...don't deserve love. 

Y/n and Sadie stopped dancing for a bit to get some rest, it was fun and y/n didn’t feel awkward or out of place, she felt…at home. She leaned back on the wall away from the crowd, she took a couple of sips of her drink until Micha walked up to her. Y/n couldn’t help but give him a small disgusted look, before forcing a smile on her face, she stood straight in order to not keep her guard down.

“Mr. Bell.” Y/n simply greeted.

“Y/n…I didn’t know you danced.” He said with a grin on his face, putting his hands over his hips, y/n folded her arms and rose an eyebrow.

“I don’t really dance…” Y/n responded with a forced chuckle. “Mrs. Adler wanted to teach me.”

“You know, for a girl that don’t dance, you’re pretty good, maybe you can dance with me one of these days…hm?” He asked her raising a thick blonde eyebrow. “What’s with the long face…? I can’t be that ugly.”

“N-No…th-that ain’t it.” Y/n stuttered, rubbing her hands together she didn’t know what to tell him, she didn’t want to dance with him, she didn’t even wanna let him in 20 feet within him. “I’m just…tired.” Y/n respond.

“Tired?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and sleep.” Y/n then excused herself tossing the bottle of beer away. She sat down on her sleeping bag and watched everyone, drunkenly happy, she enjoyed this. She was the girl that had everything, but this was the one thing she wanted, a family.

_“So…I’m gonna have a husband?” A young y/n asked her mother, she looked up to her with innocent eyes. Her mother looked at her and slowly nodded her head with a big grin on her face, fixing up her hair._

_“Yes! You’re going to meet him today, his name is Mr. Jones. He’s going to come and have dinner with us.” She explained to her, y/n had always felt like a life-size doll towards her mother. Just a pretty little thing to dress up and play with, her life to be decided by her mother. A woman who still hasn’t grown up yet, a woman that still believes in happily ever afters._

_Y/n held her breath in while the maids tighten the corset, y/n gasped loudly, she was out of breath but her mother told her to inhale as much as possible to make her have a small waist._

_“You must look beautiful y/n, he wants you to look like a...”_

_“Doll?”_

_“I was going to say, bride.”_

_“How old is he..again..?”_

_“26.”_

_“Momma, I’m 16 I don’t understand…”_

_“Oh hush now.” Her mother interrupted her, it wasn’t long before y/n was ready. She was wearing a very fancy light pink dress, her hair was done, makeup on and most important she did look a bit like a bride. Y/n looked at herself very dissatisfied and happy, she can dress pretty but…she didn’t feel pretty. She felt ugly, like that girl in the mirror wasn’t her but a version of her that was fake._

_“You look amazing!” One of the maids complimented her._

_“Thank you…” Y/n muttered softly._

_“Now listen well y/n, you will call him Mr. Jones, only speak when spoken to, don’t talk about none of them books you’ve been reading, men like a woman that doesn’t speak much.” Her mother explained to her, turning y/n over to face her and giving her some last minute touches. “Call him sir, say please and thank you, do not make eye contact with him and most importantly…” She then pushed her fingers up y/n’s cheeks to make a forced smile. “smile…”_

_“Of course…” Y/n responded looking down at her feet while her mother and maids went ahead, y/n forced a smile on her face and took one glance at herself, she knew…this wasn’t her. Y/n just had to play the part of this play, she had to play the princess._


	14. “I Know What It Feels To Be Alone”

Y/n woke up the next morning, she watched the sun barely rising, groaning to herself she forced herself to get up and make herself some coffee to help herself gain some type of energy. She looked down at the cup of coffee looking at her reflection. She didn’t know if she should wake Arthur up, she didn’t want to bother him any more than she already has. She looked over her shoulder and saw Arthur, sound asleep. Y/n couldn’t help but stare at him, she walked towards him, he looked…peaceful at ease. She smiled softly, she couldn’t bring herself to wake him, after all he deserves the rest instead of babysitting her all day.

She went on her horse and looked at Javier’s rifle, she knew that she should try more guns but the gunsmith wasn’t open until later. She rode (horse name) to the shooting range because she wanted to try and shoot birds out of the sky and test her luck on them. Y/n made it to a hill and looked up to the sky, she spotted a flock of birds flying south. She took out Javier’s rifle and aimed it at the sky, she followed the barrel of the gun with the bird. She pulled the trigger however she missed, y/n growled to herself shaking her head. She thought that her aim was getting better but after that terrible miss, she didn’t think so. Y/n shook her head in frustration groaning to herself she reloaded the rifle, looking at the reflection. ‘Maybe I should try and shoot at other things.’ Y/n thought to herself, she had no idea what she could try to shoot at. She looked around the hill and looked for animals to shoot at, she let out a soft sigh, she then spotted a wild turkey. Y/n shrugged and decided to go after the turkey, she noticed how easily the turkeys would easily get spook. She stayed away from the turkey and aimed at the turkey, she shot the turkey and hit the turkey on its wing.

“Shit.” Y/n snarled loudly to herself, her aim was not as good as it was before. She was annoyed at her aiming, she reloaded her gun and sighed a bit upset she walked over to the dead turkey, skinning it. She stowed the turkey onto her horse and went on him, she looked at the turkey she knew that she didn’t do a clean job. Y/n glared at the work she had made of the turkey, she was still pretty frustrated with how much of a bad shot she was, running her hands through her hair a bit upset. Maybe that was because she was still distracted about Arthur, she really wanted to get to know him and just understand him but that was something she was not able to do. Or even just the fact she kept comparing herself to Mary, how quickly she would just down herself. _“I hate him…”_ Y/n muttered to herself.

Her horse neighed loudly allowing y/n to snap out of it, she jumped up a bit and looked up to the sky, the time has already past her. The sun was already all the way up, she noticed that the gunsmith was most likely already open. ‘Arthur said I’m pretty good at a long scope…’ Y/n thought to herself, running her hands over Javier’s rifle. She put the gun back to where it was and rode off to Valentine in order to get herself a gun.

Y/n rode into Valentine and quickly made her way to the gunsmith, it was her first time in a gunsmith. Her curiosity piqued her interest, looking around the store she found herself being astonished by the smallest of things, such as the promotional posters. The prices ranged from $5.00 all the way up to $250, she was shocked at how expensive the guns were.

“Ma’am?”

“Huh?” Y/n perked up and turned around, spotting the cashier. The two made eye contact and he rose an eyebrow gesturing at the guns.

“You gonna buy something?”

“Oh yeah…” Y/n responded walking up to the cashier, she looked around not knowing how to buy a gun. She rubbed her hands together, she was obviously getting very nervous not knowing how to buy a gun. The cashier noticed and pulling out a catalog for y/n and tapping it, she chuckled and nodded. _“Right…right.”_ She opened up the catalog and looked through the catalog finding the index and flipping through the pages and found the scoped rifles. She pulled out her leftover money and counted her money, she only had about 20 dollars. After all, she spent 10 dollars already from her drinking, she spotted the cheapest rifle that was there it was about 15 dollars.

“That’s a beginner.” The cashier explained to her, y/n looked up a bit shocked and nodded.

“I wanna get it.”

“Alright, 15 dollars.” He told her, y/n nodded taking out the money and paying for the scoped rifle, he handed her the rifle and y/n looked very satisfied with it. “Wanna customize it?” He asked her.

“How much?”

“About 5 dollars more for an engravement.” He explained to her, y/n looked at her gun, she wanted to make it special…the first gun she bought. Y/n smirked a bit and nodded, she settled on a deer. It was beautiful and took up the end of her gun, it even had a sun behind it. Pleased y/n grabbed the rifle and run her hands through the new scope rifle, she was glorified with it. Once she left the store she tested out the scope, it was a good scope for the price, the most expensive was $200.

_“Welcome Mr. Jones, we are pleased to have you here!” Y/n’s father said with a larger than life grin. He was a tall man, he wore a nice suit in order to sell the idea that he was of high social status, right next to him was y/n’s mother. She was almost like a robot, with a fake grin on her face and only knew the phrases, ‘Please, yes sir, thank you’. It was like she didn’t have an opinion or even had a brain for herself. Mr. Jones smiled at them, his blonde hair slicked back, he had light blue eyes, they were like blueberries. He was tall and spoke like a man with an education and he was very dapper and handsome._

_“Thank you Mr. l/n, I’m pleased to be here.” Mr. Jones said with a grin on his face, the maids took off Mr. Jone’s coat and put it on the coat hanger, his tight black suit in full color. “Now where is y/n? I’m looking forward to meeting her.” He explained._

_“She is looking forward to meeting you as well, she’s..” He trailed off looking around for y/n just then y/n walked down the stairs, she felt uncomfortable. Her gloved hands touching the railing, the corset smashing her guts in, she could hardly breathe but she had a smile nonetheless and looked up with fake confidence. She felt like a doll, that just smiled and was to be toyed with. Mr. Jones smiled at her, taking her hand and kissing it._

_“You look marvelous.” He complimented her._

_“Thank you so much Mr. Jones.” Y/n thanked him._

_“Shall we have some dinner?” Y/n’s father suggested, Mr. Jones agreed and allowed the maids and butlers to lead the way to the dining room. Y/n sat down next to Mr. Jones, she felt uncomfortable and nervous, her stomach just had a bunch of butterflies. Mr. Jones smiled at her, putting his hand over her hand, y/n looked up to him with tense._

_“Are you alright?” He asked her, y/n nodded._

_“I’m fine Mr. Jones.” Y/n responded, she avoided making eye contact just like her mother asked her to, she even dumb down her vocabulary as well to avoid him believing she was a ‘a progression woman’._

_“Well, you do look very beautiful, y/n.” Mr. Jones complemented her once more._

_“You look rather handsome yourself.” Y/n responded looking at him, she blushed a bit. She was not expecting him to be as handsome as he was, however…she still wasn’t ready for the idea of marriage. It doesn’t matter how attractive he may be, y/n wanted a man with a personality…a man that just got to know her._

_Not whatever this was._

_Mr. Jones made a smug look and chuckled shaking his head, he looked rather amused of y/n’s reaction. She had no idea that she was a joker or a comical person, she looked away from him a bit awkwardly._

_“You look like you could hardly breathe.” Mr. Jones told her bluntly, y/n looked at him a bit shocked at what he said to her. She bit down on her tongue, she knew that she had a big mouth._

_“I just thought that it would compliment my body more.” Y/n responded._

_“You’re rather mature for your age then, most girls your age would disagree.” Y/n only nodded, she looked away from Mr. Jones, she didn’t want to speak anymore, she was taught to rarely speak. Smile and look pretty. That’s all she had to do and y/n wasn’t the best at that. Mr. Jones noticed this and leaned in close to her with a grin on his face, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t speak much do you?”_

_“I don’t…” Y/n responded she has never tested one this type of question. She shrugged it off not wanting to ruin anything her mother told her._

_She was taught what to say._

_What do you wanna be when you grow up? Be a wife and mother._

_What’s the one thing your best at? Cooking and cleaning._

_What would make you a good wife? I can bear children._

_This…was completely different and was unprepared for this and didn’t know to say to him._

Y/n rode into camp, she spotted Uncle drunk and asleep on the ground, he reeked. Sometimes y/n just wanted him to do something more than just sit around but she wasn’t one to talk, she did the same thing for the first week she was there.

“Girl.”

“Huh?” Y/n turned around and saw Arthur looking down at her, his arms folded above his chest. He looked annoyed and a bit angry, y/n only made a dumbfounded smile, she had no idea how to react to him, or what she had done wrong.

“Yes..?” Y/n asked him.

“You didn’t wake me.” He told her, he sounded upset. Y/n looked up to him, she didn’t know how to respond or what he wanted her to say. No matter how much she tried to study him and understand the way he acts she just couldn’t. It was like Arthur was constantly confused about his own feelings, where he just has trouble deciding if he’s angry, happy, or upset.

“I know.” Y/n finally responded, feeling her stomach drop a bit. She didn’t want to make things anymore worse with Arthur, it was like every time they spoke to each other they just would go a step backwards.

“Why, didn’t you wake me? Don’t you wanna get better at shooting?” Arthur asked her, glaring at her a bit. He looked tired, the bags underneath his eyes were very visible, the poor bastard hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.

“You were tried.” Y/n simply responded she had to be calm in order to make him calm. That’s one thing she learned from her mother, being calm in a situation deescalates it, almost like a mind game. Who can stay calm enough while they are being cursed at? Simple, a doll, just like what y/n was and her mother. “Mr. Morgan I’ve noticed that…you haven’t been getting a lot of sleep. Besides I’m a big girl I can teach myself to shoot every once in a while.” She explained to him.

Arthur quickly dropped his guard, he didn’t think that was the reason. He just assumed y/n was being selfish and just didn’t want to speak to him or look at him after their small fight. He looked a bit shocked and maybe even a bit bashful, he rubbed the back of his neck letting out a long sigh, his hat tipped down a bit to hide his small blush.

“Just wake me up next time…you won’t learn much at just shooting random things, you gotta…actually, learn the gun.” He explained to her, y/n agreed.

“I understand.”

Arthur looked up and noticed y/n’s rifle that was still strapped behind her back, he knew it looked familiar. The rifle looked just like Javier’s, it was aged and a bit dirty but Javier always did take care of his guns well. He couldn’t help but feel a small hint of jealousy, pointing at the rifle he asked her a simple question that had a lot of impacts.

“Who gave you that?” He asked her.

“Mr. Escuela.” Y/n responded.

“Javier…?” He asked her, furrowing his eyebrows. He shook his head he hid his disappointment by nodding and pretending that he was fine with it. “That’s good…that’s _real_ good. At least you finally got your own gun.”

“I know huh? It was awfully nice of him.” Y/n said with a grin holding onto her strap, she couldn’t hide the large grin on her face. A small blush on her face, looking down at the sky. “I’ve never thought I would ever own my gun…My momma would’ve smacked my hands for even touching my daddy’s.” She explained to him, Arthur glanced over at her the way she looked made Arthur to assume the worst he looked away from her.

“You know…I could’ve gotten you that gun.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing…but I think a scoped rifle is more your style.” Arthur explained to her, y/n nodded pointing at the gun that was on her horse still.

“I bought one, wanna see it?” Y/n asked him, she seemed very proud and joyful, almost jumping up in eagerness. Arthur chuckled, he couldn’t help it, y/n was acting like a puppy with the way she was jumping up and down.

“Sure.” He responded.

Y/n ran to her horse and took her rifle off of (horse name) and brought the scoped rifle to Arthur, handing it to him. He looked down at the scoped rifle and inspected it, running his hands against the gun and testing out the scope. He was a bit impressed, to say the least, he then noticed the deer engravement, he ran his rough fingers against the woodwork. He found it a bit shocking that it was a deer, he always loved nature and animals however his most favorite animal was always the deer.

Deers were very sensitive and had a strong intuition…everything that Arthur wanted to have in his personality was in the deer. Nonetheless, he knew that he was getting too in touch with himself.

“This is a real nice gun.” He complimented her.

“I know right? It was only 15, well another 5 for the deer but I don’t mind.” She said with a grin, Arthur nodded giving y/n back her gun.

“You know, ya can’t just spend your money like it ain’t nothing no more.” He told her, y/n looked at him a bit puzzled at what he meant. She tilted her head to the side a bit naive and innocent like.

“I never had money to spend…” She said bluntly.

“Huh?”

“Well my parents didn’t give me money, my momma was the one who bought me all the things and Joseph well he would do the same, buy me things that he would like me to wear.” Y/n responded. “I never made money nor was given any.”

“None at all…?”

“None, I used to steal my daddy’s books from his library and taught myself to read and write to entertain myself. My momma knew but didn’t say nothing.” She explained to him, Arthur was a bit shocked at y/n’s explanation, he would’ve thought that y/n was given all the money in the world and she would just spend it.

“Do you…miss ‘em?” Arthur asked her.

“Who?”

“Your folk.”

Y/n shrugged not knowing how to respond to his question, she hasn’t thought of her family at all. Not even when she first joined the gang after her house burned down and her entire life was gone. She never once thought of her parents, about going to them or even telling them what had happened to her. Maybe it was better that way, that they never knew what exactly had happened to her…maybe that she died or ran off with the gang that attacked her house.

Either or.

“Not really.” Y/n responded.

“Do they even know what happened to you?”

“I’m sure the police told them what happened to the house but about me…no. They probably think I died in the fire or somethin’ like that.” Y/n told Arthur shrugging it off. “You guys are my family, you, Mr. Van Der Linde, Mrs. Adler, Jack…you guys are my new family, I don’t need ‘em anymore.” She told Arthur with a grin on her face, it was obvious that she didn’t wanna go back or even see them. She was happier this way, she would rather be an outlaw, starving with Dutch’s gang than being comfortable and treated like a princess with her family. Arthur respected that about her, not only as she honest but she was blunt as hell.

“No, you don’t…” He muttered softly. 


	15. "What's Meant For You, Will Always Be For You"

It was a couple of days later, Abigail was learning quickly now she learned how to clean animal bites, treat bruises, and even how to stitch up wounds. Y/n also learned a lot from Arthur, it’s almost like every time she’s with him she learns another thing that she never knew. Like how to do that little gun trick he does when he put his revolver back in its holster. Arthur wrote in his journal, he found himself writing more and more about y/n. Almost like y/n was the only person in his world, the only woman that existed to him. Deep down he felt something strange for her, nothing like he has felt in a long time.

“Arthur!” Hosea called, Arthur perked up a bit, awoken from his daze. He put his journal back in his satchel and walked over to the old man, maybe it was for a robbery or something. But something stood out to him, y/n was right next to Hosea, the two were laughing and joking around. “Ah Arthur my dear boy, I was thinking of hunting a bear!”

“A bear?”

“Yes, a bear.”

“Then why is _she_ coming along?” Arthur asked him, pointing at y/n who seemed a bit offended from how quickly Arthur undervalue her. She put both hands on her hips raising an eyebrow, glaring at him a bit.

“ _She’s_ coming along cause you admit it yourself I’m good at scope rifle.” She explained to him, a bit smug she was. Cocky even, Arthur lacked the planning and understanding of animals that Hosea had and y/n was logical. Y/n then pointed down on the map, making direct eye contact with Arthur. “I think it’s wiser to take this beast out from afar. One clean shot between its eyes.” She explained.

“I agree,” Hosea added. “A bear this big is gonna be hard to take out, y/n can shoot at him from a distance just to wear him down a bit, Arthur and I will be up close to give it a killing blow.” He explained to Arthur. “Whatdya think Arthur?” Hosea and y/n looked up to Arthur, with a small grin. He paced around sighing, he did not want y/n to tag along because well it was rather dangerous, not even rather, very dangerous. She never hunted big animals before, however, Hosea would be there as well as himself.

“I guess,” Arthur responded. “When we are going?”

“Now, the sooner the better, of course, we might have to camp out.” He explained to Arthur and y/n.

“Camp out? Like in the forest?” Y/n asked Hosea, who nodded.

“What are ya scared girl?” Arthur asked y/n a big smugly, she turned around and shot him a grin ear to ear. She seemed excited and merry, almost like she wanted to camp out in the forest.

“Of course not! I’ve never been camping in a forest.” She told Arthur, while she tried to contain herself. “I-I’ll go pack up!” She said running off to her sleeping bag, Hosea chuckled to himself.

“Remind you of anyone, Arthur?” He asked him.

“What?”

“She acts just like you when you first joined,” Hosea explained to Arthur.

“No, she don’t.”

“She does well maybe she’s a bit more…rational.”

“She’s more reckless than rational.”

“What do you expect? She’s a young woman that has never been out before, she just needs a bit of guidance.”

“Young and reckless don’t mix well…”

“Neither does denial and stubbornness.”

Arthur glanced over at Hosea, he felt a bit attacked from that last statement, Hosea only seemed carefree and didn’t even notice Arthur’s sudden change in emotions.

“I’m gonna go pack up.” Arthur grumbled going back to his tent, Arthur brought canned foods, a knife, blankets, and pillows. He glanced over at the mirror, running his rough fingers over his jawline, taking off his hat, sitting down in front of the mirror. He picked up the blade and shaved a bit, he didn’t notice y/n standing near him. She couldn’t help but watch, he was handsome and seemed to be like fine wine, someone that ages with grace. Y/n gripped onto her heart and gulped, bitting down on her bottom lip, her face was slowly turning pink, her heart beating out of her chest.

All of a sudden she felt a hand touch her shoulder, she shuddered and turned around to see Charles. She only made a quick bewildered grin to try and disarm Charles.

“Hello, Mr. Smith.” She greeted him.

“Y/n I just wanted to give you some advice when it comes to hunting a bear,” Charles told her. “Hosea told me that he wanted me to give you a bit of advice, bears are curious creatures try to stay calm.” He told her, y/n nodded.

“Arthur, y/n let’s go nightfall will be here soon!” Hosea called over the two, Charles wished y/n some luck and sent her off, she got on (horse name) Arthur followed her and they both followed Hosea to the mountains. Y/n was excited and ready but at the same time she felt nervous and a bit unprepared, she’s never hunted anything as big as a bear but she did feel a bit safe with Hosea and Arthur.

“Now young y/n, please don’t get too nervous,” Hosea told her almost like he was reading her mind, Hosea just had that power. Being able to tell when someone how someone was feeling just by looking at them, a true grandpa he is. “I promise you that you’ll be safe, isn’t that right, Arthur?”

“I’mma at least guarantee that you won’t be eating alive, girl,” Arthur responded, he was joking but the way he sounded made him seem a bit serious. Y/n gulped, gripping onto her saddle for some reason Arthur saying that didn’t make her feel any better, she bit down on her lip and made a fearful grin.

“He wouldn’t want me, Mr. Morgan, I think he prefers a bit more _meat_ to his meals.” She responded, Hosea, looked at her and started to let out a chuckle. Joking was one thing that y/n had to make her feel a bit better, even if it was a bit rude. Arthur looked back at y/n and Hosea who was having a laughing fit, he glared at y/n shaking his head.

“I ain’t bear food.” He said.

“No, no of course your not my dear boy,” Hosea said, he was laughing so much that he was out of breath.

“I’m just kidding Mr. Morgan.” Y/n responded.

“Let’s camp here for now,” Hosea said stopping, they were a bit away from the camp, and the camp that Hosea wanted to settle was rather nice and comfortable. Y/n hopped off of her horse and looked around, the wildlife was simply breathtaking, a big grin was across her face. Almost forgetting that they were going to hunt down a bear that could easily kill all three of them. She climbed a large rock to get a better view of the forest, letting out a gasp. It was breathtaking, birds singing and flocking around. The tall trees hovering over y/n, all she could do was look up to take it all in. Never before had she been to this part of the forest, and it never ceases to stop amazing her. Her entire life she was behind doors, rarely exploring her surroundings, the only place she knew was her bedroom.

“Amazing isn’t it, y/n?” Hosea asked y/n standing next to her, y/n nodded very joyfully. “You know you can go ahead explore.” He told her.

“R-Really?” Y/n gasped, her eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree. Hosea chuckled, he enjoyed seeing people excited of the little things, hell y/n was almost like a child at this rate.

“Of course just don’t go too far, the bear is still out there.” He told her.

“I’ll be back before nightfall.” Y/n assured Hosea just then Arthur came out of nowhere, folding his arms above his chest.

“Now what do I hear about the girl going off on her own?” Arthur asked Hosea.

“She’s a young woman and she can handle herself,” Hosea said trying to defend y/n.

“She don’t know how to fight-“ Arthur was interrupted by y/n, she was getting annoyed at how Arthur kept undervaluing her. Saying how she don't know how to fight, how she barely knows how to hold a gun, she wanted to prove to him that she could protect herself, even if it kills her.

“I can protect myself.” She told him.

“How about you join her Arthur,” Hosea suggested.

“WHAT?!” The duo said in a unison.

“Yes, so y/n can explore and you can protect her if the bear does come around.” He explained to them. “It’s only logical.”

“B-But…” Y/n stuttered, she knew that was the better option, she let out a frustrated sigh and nodded. “Okay fine.”

“Arthur?”

“Alright…” He grumbled. “C’mon girl you lead the way.” He told her, a bit annoyed she did. Of course, y/n knew that Hosea was just trying to defuse the situation and that she should be grateful. However Arthur and she were barely just speaking it, it’s almost like they are constantly are together due to unforeseen reasons.

The entire hike was silent, y/n only had a big grin, she decided to not let Arthur make her have a bad time, she wanted to enjoy nature. Y/n looked up to a large tree, for some reason she just had the urge to climb it. She looked behind her and noticed that Arthur was still a bit behind, knowing that he would probably stop her before she could even touch the tree she decided to climb it. Y/n jumped up and grabbed onto a branch and pulled herself up, branch by branch she went. Arthur finally caught up to y/n and looked around, he lost her.

“Girl?” He called, looking around, just then a twig fell on top of his face, he looked up and saw y/n climbing a large tree. His blue eyes widen, terror and worrisome quickly arose from him. “What the hell are you doing up there?” He called to her. “Get down!”

Y/n only ignored him, it was just an urge she had to fulfill. The inner child was just begging her to climb this tree, she’s never done it before and thought why not. After all, she may never get the chance to do it again, not paying attention she let out a small gasp, she almost lost her footing.

Arthur clenched his fist bitting down on his bottom lip, he was nervous and scared. He just instantly thought of y/n falling to her death, although climbing a tree was an option what if she fell and he couldn’t get her because he was climbing the tree? It was too much of a big risk.

“S-Shit..” Arthur cursed underneath his breath, standing underneath her with his arms spread out to catch her just in case. “Get down!”

“I’m fine!” Y/n called to him with a big grin, she looked down, Arthur almost looked like a child from where she was at. Quickly she regretted looking down, watching her feet dangle, her stomach dropping. She gulped, gripping onto the branch, she backed up, the leaves touching her face while the wind blew. She was only 1/3 of the way there, there was more for her to climb, y/n’s too much gene kicked in and ignored her subconscious, she decided to keep going. Pulling herself up, her muscles were becoming worn down. She panted softly underneath her breath, sweat rolling down her face, looking up a bird flew by her.

“Amazing…” Y/n muttered softly reaching up, a sudden crackle. Terror rose into y/n’s heart, her heart pounding out of her chest while she slowly looked down, the branch was breaking. “O-Oh no.” She gasped, trying to get down to the next branch she was too late, the branch broke. Y/n’s (eye color) eyes widen, her heart pounding out of her chest. She was falling, tears rolling down her face, it was too much for her that she couldn’t even scream or call for help. She tried her best to grab onto a branch of some sort but every time she did it would break, nothing to break her fall.

All of a sudden she stopped falling, slowly opening her eyes she saw Arthur. A bit amazed at how he was able to time her fall and somehow catch her, he glared at her. Y/n only made a dumbfounded grin and shrugged it off, Arthur put her down, folding his arms underneath his chest.

“What the did I tell ya, girl!” Arthur quickly scolded her, letting out a soft sigh, looking away from him.

“To get down.” She responded.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, letting out a long sigh.

“I am…now can you put me down?” She asked him, Arthur looked away from her blushing a bit, putting down the young woman. Y/n looked at her hands, a bunch of splinters was inside of her palms and a large cut across her palm. She closed it and decided to not make Arthur worry too much about it, the last thing she wanted to do was go back to camp due to her recklessness.

“Why didn’t you get down?” Arthur asked her.

“I wanted to climb the tree…I’ve never climbed a tree before.” She told him.

“You haven’t, what type of kid never climbed a tree before?”

“A rich one.” Y/n responded. “I learned how to play the piano, the violin, how to sew, cook, while girls my age were doing so much more. Learning how to climb trees, plant seeds, having friends and playing with dolls…” Y/n trailed off, she never had a childhood. Her childhood was just whatever her mother wanted her to do, being raised to be just like her.

_A woman with no opinion._

_A women with no mouth._

_A woman that only knew how to raise children and please her husband._

_A woman who only smiled and looked pretty._

“I’m sorry…” Arthur apologized. “Do you wanna keep looking around?”

“Please.” Y/n said with a soft grin, he nodded. The two walked around the forest with no real destination, they spotted dears, bucks, rabbits, it was amazing and peaceful.

“Have you climbed a tree before, Mr. Morgan?” Y/n asked him.

“Sure.”

“How was your childhood?” She asked him.

“Well it wasn’t anything like yours.”

“Test me.”

“Test you?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright, I never had much of a father, he was often gone in jail.” He explained to her. “He got what he deserved in the end, my mother…well…she weren’t much neither. That woman was just a ghost that just pretended everything was alright… _‘Your daddy went to jail? It’s fine boy, everything is fine.’_ She would often drink and drink to calm herself down, she was too busy wallowing in self-pity...and me, I was the troubled child that ran off to be an outlaw.” He told her. “Being an outlaw is in my blood.”

“We have more in common than you think Mr. Morgan…” Y/n responded.

“I was poor, you was rich.” Arthur retorted.

“Yes, I was a rich little princess…but my daddy and momma are just like yours. My daddy never touched me, in fact, he would refuse to even speak to me unless it benefited him. My momma? She was some little girl that never grew up, she treated me like a doll. Some pretty little thing that was supposed to be dressed up and played with.” Y/n sighed and shook her head. “I was the troubled daughter Mr. Morgan, I had…needs…wants…I wanted something more than what I was supposed to be. But I had to be a good little girl and obeyed my daddy and momma.” Y/n explained to him. “We both were troubled children.”

“You telling me that if we met that we would’ve been friends back then?” He asked her a bit sarcastically.

“Maybe.” Y/n responded.

“…What about your husband? Did you ever…I dunno love him?”

“What’s with the sudden change of pace?” Y/n asked him raising an eyebrow. “You rarely spoke to me and now you wanna know about my husband?”

“I was just curious…”

“He was a handsome and kind man.” Y/n explained to him. “He was soft towards me, getting me my favorite types of flowers. Joseph didn’t want a puppet for a wife, he wanted me to be myself…so I did.” She smiled and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We was happy for a bit…but then everything changed. I-I…” Y/n stuttered, never once did she speak about her past into so much detail or her biggest sin. The one thing that she regretted, the one thing that she wished was so much more different, in instinct, she found herself laying a hand over her stomach. Arthur noticed this looking at her a bit shocked, he knew exactly what she meant or what she was once was. “I was pregnant.” She finally said underneath her breath. “I was 17 at the time, I didn’t know what the hell was happening to my body, I always felt sick and ill, barely could I sit up.” Y/n shook her head, a bit frustrated from the memories. “Then my daughter came, she was beautiful Mr. Morgan. You should’ve seen her, she just had a smile that could light up the whole world!” Just then y/n fell silent looking away from Arthur shrugging. “We were both happy for a bit until…well, obviously ya’ll don’t see me with her no more.” She responded a bit solemnly, shaking her head, her hands still on her stomach, a sad smile forming. “I miss her you know?”

“What was her name?”

“Her name was Jane I named her after a character in a book I read once, it was called, _‘Jane Eyre’_ by Charlotte Bronte, the main character just spoke to me. It was about a woman who refused to marry her cousin and well I wanted my daughter to not be like me or my mother. I wanted her to have her own independence, to be diligent. Not being a puppet that smiled and waved.” Y/n let out a sigh, shaking her head. “She would’ve been 5 now.”

“You ain’t a puppet girl.” Arthur tried to comfort y/n, patting her on the back a bit awkwardly. “I’m sure little Jane would’ve been just like you, a strong young woman.” He told her. Y/n smiled tenderly, nodding.

“Thank you…Mr. Morgan, I’m sorry for getting all emotional it’s just…sorta happened.” Walking a bit ahead of Arthur, smiling at him. “We outta get back to camp, I don’t want Mr. Matthews to worry too much.”

“Sure…” Arthur muttered following her back to camp. “I-I know how you feel though, y/n.” He called to her, y/n stopped in her tracks and turned around titling her head to the side.

“H-Huh?”

_“I had a son once…"_


	16. "Have A Good Night"

Y/n stopped in her tracks, turning around slowly all of a sudden her heart beat slowly almost like time was going by her slowly. A tender expression was on her face, her lips whimpering a bit. 

“W-What did you just say?” She asked him, eyes slowly becoming soft and almost comforting.

“I had a son before,” Arthur explained to her. “His name was Issac…I lost him too when he was just a little boy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“I don’t talk about him much but I just thought…that you should-I mean-that you might find some sort of comfort in knowing that…well, you ain’t alone.” Arthur sputtered his words, never once did he speak about his son so openly especially not to someone who he only met a month or so ago. “He was…about four years old…he was a good kid y/n. A very good kid…the point is that it gets easier.” He finally got to the point, looking up to y/n, the two made eye contact for a moment before he went on. “It hurts, I’m still hurting y/n and it’s been over 20 years.” He explained to her. “It just gets easier…” He told her softly. “Just know that you can come to me if you’re hurting about Jane…”Y/n smiled at him, it was a small one but it was tender and sweet it was genuine though. 

“Thank you…Mr. Morgan it uh…means a lot.” Y/n said softly underneath her breath, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Just then the sunlight was slowly fading away, the duo looked up to the sky see that the sun was starting to set. Arthur walked over to y/n nodding to her, leading the way back to camp, y/n looked up to the sky, before following him back to camp as well. 

 

_Y/n panted loudly, sweat trailing down her face. Screaming in pain, tears rolling down her pale face. She was pregnant however, she was early…3 months early. Lately, y/n had been sick throughout her pregnancy, barely being able to eat without vomiting it out. Not even the best doctors that money could offer was able to help her, nobody knew what was wrong with her strange illness, not even herself._

_“You’re doing great Mrs. Jones!” The midwife complimented her, y/n let out another horrendous scream. Joseph gripped onto y/n’s hand, holding onto her as her life depended on it, she clenched his clammed and shaky hands. Y/n never once experienced this amount of pain, like her stomach and insides were being torn open. She could see all the blood beneath her, the midwife covered in blood, the maids running around with blood covered blankets that were once pure white was now a solid red._

_“You’re doing great, hon!” Joseph told her, kissing her on the forehead._

_“I don’t feel great!” Y/n groaned out loudly, gripping onto his hand even tighter, her head leaning back screaming loudly._

_“Push!” The midwife shouted at her. “Push! You’re almost there!”_

_Y/n let out another loud cry, leaning her body all the way back until a baby could be heard crying. She quickly looked down and watched the midwife wrapped her baby in a blanket, hushing it. A small weary smile formed on y/n’s face like the pain was worth it. The midwife smiled at the couple bringing the newborn to Joseph._

_“It’s a girl.” The midwife told him, Joseph smiled, looking down at y/n and then at the baby. He seemed at home and content like the entire world had just got brighter. His blue hues glowing up, while he cooed at the baby girl._

_“Hello little one…I’m your daddy, yep your daddy.” He whispered to the baby, while he rocked her._

_“Lemme see her.” Y/n panted out, Joseph nodded, bringing the baby to y/n, she looked at her. The baby girl had y/n’s eyes, Joseph’s button nose, she looked beautiful. Although all the baby could do was cry and wallow y/n just had a grin on her face, nothing had mattered more to her until this very moment. All the pain and suffering was worth it if she could see her daughter face to face._

_“What are you gonna name her?” The midwife asked the couple._

_“Jane…” Y/n and Joseph responded in a unison, y/n smiled, wiggling her finger in front of Jane’s face._

_“My little Jane…” Y/n whispered softly to her daughter, almost for a moment there y/n could’ve sworn she saw her smile._

 

Y/n and Arthur made it to camp, Hosea already had the fire started and the tents set up. The old man was poking at the fire with a stick before noticing the duo, he grinned at them. 

“How was your little journey?” He asked them.

“Educational,” Arthur responded nodding with his hands over his belt buckle, y/n nodded in agreement. 

“I climbed a tree for the first time!”

“A tree you say?” Hosea asked her. 

“Yep! I climbed it so high that I could see the skies and Mr. Morgan looked like an ant from where I was at.” Y/n explained to him, her child-like nature quickly peering through. Hosea chuckled, the way y/n was lighting up like the fourth of July over something so small and unimportant was refreshing for him. It almost allowed him to remember to enjoy the little things in life instead of the riches. 

“You had a very busy day then I assume,” Hosea said with a grin, looking back at Arthur. “I hope you had fun too, Arthur.” 

“It was alright,” Arthur responded, crouching down to get some food cooked. He had a turkey stowed on his horse from the morning and was cooking it for y/n, himself, and Hosea to enjoy. Y/n sat down in front of the campfire with Hosea next to her, before long the sun started to set and the food was cooked and ready. Everyone had a plate with some turkey meat, Hosea was standing up telling a story to the group. Y/n leaned in, her head slowly nodding in pure excitement, she enjoyed stories which is why she was a big reader growing up. 

“...I reached into that back pocket but then I felt something going at mine…we both turned around and we were both trying to rob one another. That’s how Dutch and I met, I was gonna rob that son of a bitch blind but that was his same exact idea as well!” Hosea then started to break out laughing, y/n and Arthur had a long laugh with him, slapping y/n on the back. “Alright, alright that’s all I got, Arthur do you have anything?” Hosea asked him, sitting down. 

“Nah I don’t got much,” Arthur responded.

“What about your first heist?” Y/n asked him. 

“My first heist…” Arthur trailed off, he looked up to y/n, she seemed very interested, her (eye color) hues growing large with a smile on her face. Arthur wanted to make y/n feel a bit more comfortable and well maybe this could help, he stood up in front of them, standing up. “Well, my first heist was about 20 years ago. I was young, I was about 20 years old give or take.” He told the story. “Dutch was telling me about a train that was supposed to come on by, telling me how there was gonna be rich folk on it at dawn. Dutch well…” Arthur then started to chuckle a bit. “he was a lot younger, more reckless, we didn’t exactly plan it out, ain’t that right Hosea?”

“Damn right, I told you both it was gonna be more complicated than just waving guns around.” Hosea then started to laugh, enjoying the old times that he had with Dutch and Arthur. 

“We never did that again!” Arthur then laughed loudly, shaking his head before returning back to his story. “Well anyways first Dutch got on, we killed a couple of the workers together, he took the back cart I took the front. I waved around my little pistol around like a big boy, hollering, ‘Put the money in the bag’ but before we knew it the police was called on us, turns out this train was going through a very popular city with good law enforcement.” Hosea and Arthur then started to laugh loudly, laughing so hard that tears rolled down their face. “We were chased! Chased out of there and we only made it out with $200 for all that trouble!” Arthur slapped his knee, he enjoyed those old times. He missed them a lot but he also knew that the past is the past and well the present was just as important. Y/n laughed with the men, Arthur bowed and sat back down. 

“What about you, young y/n?” Hosea asked her. 

“I dunno if I have anything.” Y/n responded.

“C’ mon, tell us about your rich days,” Hosea told her. 

“I don’t think she has much,” Arthur told Hosea trying to defend her, he didn’t know if y/n felt uncomfortable talking about the past or even have any good memories of her family. Y/n put her index finger over her lips, trying to remember something, but then something popped up. She stood up, the men looked up to her, all attention was on her. 

“I was about 7 years old, now as a little girl I was rebellious.” She smiled, pushing a strand behind her ear, with her hands over her hips. “One time I found a stray kitten roaming around the manor so I took it in. Fed it, care for it, the kitten was so small that I would hide it underneath my bed. I loved that kitten, she was black, pure black, with the most amazing and striking green eyes. I hid that kitten underneath my bed for years, until one day she just wasn’t there more.” Y/n explained.

“What happened to the kitten?” Hosea asked her. 

“My momma found her, told me she threw him out and fed him to the dogs.” Y/n responded. “I got so mad that I bit her on the arm, I left a scar on there too, course I was punished, with a spanking and I wasn’t allowed to leave my room for a bit.” Y/n then had a big smirk on her face. “But my kitten was still alive, he would visit me almost daily at my window cell.” Y/n told them. “Until well he had a family…the end.” Y/n said with a grin before sitting down, the men applauded her small story, it wasn’t anything funny like Hosea or daring like Arthur but it was sweet. 

“It’s getting dark, we should get to sleep, we are gonna need a lot of energy for our bear hunting,” Hosea told them, starting to get ready for bed, taking off his hat. “You both can stay up if you want, just don’t talk too loudly.” He sighed, walking over to his sleeping bag. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Arthur called to him.

“Good night Mr. Mathews.” Y/n called to him, the old man tucked himself into the sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep, y/n glanced over at Arthur, she wasn’t tired at all and neither was Arthur, the two looked away from each other. Feeling a bit nervous, y/n went into a little ball, hugging her knees. There was nothing more silence between the two, all that could be heard was the owls and wind. Neither one of them knew what to say, it was awkward, to say the least, y/n stared into the campfire. 

“Have you ever hunted a bear, Mr. Morgan?” She asked him all of a sudden.

“No I haven’t,” Arthur responded. “This is gonna be my first.”

“Really?” Y/n asked him.

“Really, really.”  He responded. 

“Wow.”

“What do you mean by that?” Arthur asked her a bit offended.

“Well it’s just that I would’ve thought you would have hunted a bear, you just seem like the type of guy to hunt a bear.” Y/n responded, shrugging. Arthur made a smug look towards her, raising his eyebrow a bit. 

“I look like the type of guy to hunt a bear?” Arthur chuckled shaking his head, he was amazed or more or less confused as to how y/n saw that in him. The man let out a chuckle shaking his head, with a rough large hand resting at the back of his neck. Y/n furrowed her eyebrows, looking lilt a small child being told no for sweets. She pouted a bit, looking away from Arthur sticking out her tongue. 

“Who knows, maybe in a past life you were a hunter.” Y/n suggested, shrugging.

“Do you believe in that silly stuff?” Arthur chuckled.

“Well…I dunno…no one knows what beyond this life, Id’ like to think that we do live again…just in another form.”

“Oh yeah?” Arthur asked her, humoring her a bit. “Whattdya think I’ll be?” He asked her. There was a moment of silence between the two, all that could be heard was the crackling of the campfire. Y/n looked up to Arthur, she made eye contact with his breathtaking sapphires for eyes, she smiled at him. 

“A deer.”

“A deer?” 

“Yeah, a deer.”

“Why a deer?”

“Deers are…” Y/n trailed off, tapping the bottom of her chin. “well because…you’re both sensitive.” She responded.

“What?” Arthur retorted a bit aggressively, chuckling loudly. “I ain’t sensitive, girl.” 

“Well about me than, Mr. Morgan? If you think you can do such a fine job.” She said sassily, with both arms folded above her chest with a smug look. 

“You?”

“Yes, me.”

“Well…”Arthur trailed off, he looked around the woods, a small smirk was forming across his face. An idea popped up, not a very good one but an idea nonetheless. “A mocking jay.”

“A mocking jay?”

“Yes, because you both don’t know when to keep your mouth closed and listen.” He responded, y/n made a shocked look, her mouth hung open, y/n chuckled shaking her head crossing her legs.

“Well luckily for you I like birds.”

“You like birds?”

“Yes, they can fly and just be free and honestly…that sounds amazing.”

“You know…you can always go back to your family.”

“I dunno if that’s possible Mr. Morgan.” Y/n spoked softly, she looked up to the starry night sky. The clouds were barely setting in, with a large half-moon smacked down in the middle of the sky. Y/n turned away from Arthur shaking her head, snuggling into her covers, she stood up and wrapped the blanket around her body. “I think it’s best to get to bed…good night…Mr. Morgan.” She said softly heading to her sleeping back. 

“Good night,” Arthur responded softly, he watched y/n tiredly and solemnly walked to her sleeping bag, laying down. He sighed to himself, shaking his head, he removed his hat and stared into the campfire, taking out his small journal from his bag and started to write in it. 

 

_Ms. L/n and Hosea went to bed…the girl thinks that I’ll be a deer when I die…I doubt it._

_I’m probably one step away from hell._

_But she told me something…the poor girl had a daughter…Jane was her name. I told her about my boy as well…for some reason…I have a feeling her little girl and my boy would’ve been great friends._

_He would’ve been around y/n’s age now if he were alive…I wonder if he and y/n would’ve hit it off.._

_No Arthur._

_Don’t think like that._

_I better head to bed…I feel like things have just gone..differently now between her and me._


	17. "Anxiety And False Sense Of Confidence"

A/n: Sorry for being dead LMAO I have no reason for my absence;-;

It was the next day for their little bear hunting adventure, y/n was the first one up. She decided to do something productive and made breakfast for Hosea and Arthur, of course with the limited supplies they had. It was eggs and canned beans, Bon Appetite. She let out soft yawns, both hands on her hips looking at the sun rising.

It was breathtaking, to say the least.

Nature always left y/n breathless, it was amazing and gracious at how nature is. Y/n’s eyes lit up with amazement, her lips slowly turning into a grin. Just then y/n heard some leaves crushing, she quickly turned around, standing her ground.

“It’s just me girl.” A soft rusty voice responded, y/n let out a soft sigh and lowered her guard, her body becoming relax. She smiled, putting one hand on her hip, looking at the sun.

“A-Ah good morning Mr. Morgan, Isn’t this beautiful?” She asked him.

“Mornin’. What..? The sunrise?” Arthur asked her.

“Yeah, it’s amazing, isn’t it?” Y/n asked him with a big grin on her face. Arthur looked at the sun rising, he then looked back at y/n, she seemed at peace and amazed. For some reason a small smile crept onto his face, Arthur acted quickly and hid it underneath his hat.

“Yeah, sure it is.” He responded softly, the sunlight reflecting onto his light blue hues, glancing over at y/n who somehow just always caught his eyes. But she wouldn’t notice, a big old smile on her face letting out a soft sigh, a bit in a dreamy state. That sunrise was no different from the one of yesterday or tomorrow, but this sunrise was memorizing to her. Y/n then looked back to Arthur and was awoken from her daze, Arthur looked away quickly to make sure that she hasn’t noticed him.

“Oh yeah, would you like some coffee?” Y/n offered him.

“Were you going to make some?” He asked her, y/n nodded.

“It’s a great time to have some coffee.” She told him softly. “The weather just gives me the feels to have some coffee with someone -e-er I mean…” Y/n stumbled on her words, she didn’t mean to make it sound as romantic as it did. Y/n looked away from him, a small blush forming on her face, playing with her thumbs she let out a nervous chuckle. “I-I mean…uh…would you like some coffee?” Y/n asked him pretending she never said that.

“Sure…” Arthur responded y/n nodded. She was still a bit uneasy from what she had said and how she flirted a bit with the older man. Y/n started to make some of the coffee that Hosea packed up. Arthur watched the young lady making the coffee, he was a bit amused and at the same time a bit flustered of y/n’s last comment.

It made his heart flutter for a moment, just for a moment though. After all, he was a stone-cold man, nothing could make him flustered as easily as Mary could back in his youth, but…that was a lifetime ago.

“Good morning, Mr. Matthews.” Y/n greeted him, Hosea smiled and greeted her back.

“Good morning Ms. L/n and Arthur.” Hosea greeted the duo. “How long have you both been up?”

“Not long,” Arthur responded. “I woke up after the girl.”

“I made some breakfast, oh yeah would you like some coffee Mr. Matthews?” Y/n asked Hosea.

“Sure.” He said with a grin. Y/n made an extra cup before the trio knew it y/n had finished the coffee and now everyone was eating the breakfast y/n made. Hosea complimented her meal, y/n smiled and thanked him.

“Isn’t it good, Arthur?” Hosea asked Arthur who was slurping up his eggs and canned beans.

“H-huh?” He asked her.

“Isn’t this good?” Hosea asked Arthur once more.

“Yeah, the girl can cook…” He grumbled softly.

“Thank you.” Y/n thanked him, she then looked over at Hosea. “So. Mr. Matthews, what are gonna do now? Look for that bear, get some bait?” She asked him a bit excitedly. Excited to her early grave in other words, Arthur thought to himself for a split moment.

“Well Ms. L/n, first we must find a trail.” He told her bluntly.

“A trail?”

“Yes. clues, hints, etc.”

“What are clues and hints?” Y/n asked him tilting her head to the side.

“Well, droppings of course,” Hosea responded.

“E-Ew.” Y/n muttered softly underneath her breath. “Like…poop?”

“Well yes, y/n,” Hosea responded.

“Gross.” She said a bit childishly.

“Well, we must get out hands dirty sometimes,” Hosea said bluntly.

“Yeah, girl, can’t handle some shit? If ya can’t, might as well retire now.” Arthur said bluntly.

“Psh, you can’t get rid of me that easily!” Y/n said with a smug cocky grin with both hands over her hips. Arthur was taken back a bit at y/n’s sudden boost of cockiness and self-confidence, of course, it was a bit of a charade of false confidence. The two made eye contact for a bit before Arthur made a small smug smirk, almost like he was challenging her.

“Alright you two, that’s quite enough,” Hosea said trying to keep the peace. The duo sent one another quick looks before returning their attention to Hosea, who was already pulling out a map and planning out the attack on this oh so legendary bear. Y/n peeked over with Arthur following suit, she spotted the areas that were marked probably trails or evidence of the bear being there. “Alright these areas are marked off, the bear hasn’t gone beyond this area,” Hosea explained, running his finger against the map, making a large circle almost to show the duo was the bear was most likely hiding. “Now, these areas are most likely where the bear is, it’s closer to the river for its food and water source.”

“So you’re telling me the bear is most likely here?” Arthur asked pointing at an area of the map.

“Exactly Arthur,” Hosea said with a small grin.

“We can set some bait here,” Arthur said tapping the map at certain spots.

“Yes, yes..” Hosea said nodding, agreeing with him. Y/n wasn’t educated at all in this area, she had no idea how to hunt, barely knew how to track, she had nothing to provide to the conversation at hand, she felt like the odd one out. She could only watch and listen to Arthur and Hosea’s conversation which she undoubtedly didn’t exactly know what they were talking about, their conversation was so advanced into hunting that y/n could barely make sense of it.

“Alright, it’s settled! We’ll go here.” Hosea said, snapping y/n out of her small daze, all of sudden Hosea was packing up his map and taking some materials, y/n looked over at Arthur who was also packing a bag, y/n gulped not exactly knowing what to do or pack even. She acted quickly, pretending she knew what she was doing, grabbing onto her rifle, bullets, some food, and a canteen filled with water.

“Let’s go, girl,” Arthur called to her, he already had his stuff and Hosea was leading the way to get the bear, y/n couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy. After all, she wasn’t any good at much, other than wounds, but who knows how would she act with a bear in front of her?

A large bear that could easily kill her in one second, what if the bear attacks Hosea or Arthur? Would she just stand there frozen in fear, doing nothing? Or would she fight back? What if the bear mauls her to death…would they too be frozen in fear?

A chill ran down y/n’s spine at just thinking the millions, ‘What if’ situations that her mind played and entertained to her to make her feel anxious, nervous even. She felt her heart beating quickly, panting a bit all of a sudden she felt something on her shoulder. She jumped up, letting out a soft gasp, turning around to see Arthur.

“You’re falling behind girl,” Arthur told her bluntly, he noticed the cold sweat rolling down y/n’s pale face, he suddenly grew concern. “Somethin’ wrong?” He asked her in a soothing rustic voice.

“N-No I’m fine Mr. Morgan…Come now…let’s not let Mr. Matthews wait any longer!” She said with a nervous grin, walking ahead of Arthur. But he had a feeling that y/n wasn’t being truthful…but all he could do was sigh and follow behind her. 


	18. "Hypnotized"

After a few hours of what seemed like endless searching, dead end after dead end, each trail seemed to lead to nothing. Y/n was becoming a bit impatient, lightly tapping her foot, pouting a bit while Arthur and Hosea were still calm and collected as ever.

Y/n lacked their godlike patience when it comes to hunting. She sighed a bit, kicking the dirt underneath her heel, looking around, all she could hear were birds chirping, the once bright blue sky was becoming a tad darker by every hour.

“Guys…will we ever find the bear? I mean we have been at it for hours-“ Y/n was interrupted by Arthur.

“You were the one that was stubborn about joinin’ us.” He sassed her a bit, y/n glared at him a bit, bitting down on her tongue to avoid saying anything she may regret later.

“Don’t fret Miss l/n!” Hosea reasoned with her. “Hunting takes hours, days, weeks even!... But at the end of the day, it is worth it! I guarantee it!”

“I understand Mr. Matthews.” Y/n mumbled slightly, she looked back up to the sky to see the branches and leaves hovering over her. But for some reason, the birds went silent, she couldn’t help but feel her heart racing a mile a beat. Her hands became clammy and shaky, gripping onto her sniper rifle just then y/n’s terror was interrupted by Arthur.

“Hey, girl can you go up that hill?” He asked her, pointing at a very large hill that was next to the trio. “I want you to see if you can get a good look at the area.” He told her, y/n meekly nodded, following her orders. She hiked up the hill and took out her binoculars and looked through them, all she could see was trees and nature, it was breathtaking, to say the least.

“See anything?” Hosea called to y/n, she was snapped out of her daze. She almost forgot that she was supposed to be looking for signs of the bear’s presences. Letting out a soft sigh, she went back to her original task, there wasn’t anything there but a riverbank.

“We could try the riverbank.” Y/n suggested.

“Did you see signs of bear activity?” Hosea asked y/n.

“Nope, but maybe bears like water and fish so…I-I just thought…” Y/n muttered all of a sudden she felt insecure about her answer like she just gave a stupid answer that no one asked for. Y/n looked down and glanced over at Hosea who was thinking and Arthur who was just looking around for some sort of sign.

“The girl is right…” Arthur agreed with y/n, it made her heart skip a bear. A small smile was slowly forming on her face, she felt like she added something in a strange way. “Bears like riverbanks, we could set up a bait there and catch it.” He suggested to Hosea, who nodded, tapping the bottom of his chin.

“Let’s get going then, y/n I believe it’s best that you stay back here, you have a clean look of the riverbank and well you could also snipe the bear as well.” Hosea reasoned y/n felt her stomach drop.

She didn’t exactly like the idea of her staying by herself.

“Y-You mean you guys go ahead and I’ll camp here…alone?” Y/n asked him, Hosea nodded.

“Yes, Arthur and I need to get there soon, camp by the riverbank and you can camp here. Don’t worry it’s safe I assure you.” He told her with a soft smile and look on his face, y/n gulped. She was a bit nervous, after all, she never camped by herself..at all, or even entertained the idea. She believed that the three of them would be together, not split up.

“W-Well I mean you guys can set the bait today right a-and well come back?” She asked them.

“Well, who knows if the bear will even take the first bait, these things take time y/n. Just get up by sunrise and we should be fine, don’t worry Ms. L/n.” Hosea tried to calm y/n down, she was still shaking at just the thought of it. She didn’t want to be left alone. All of a sudden Arthur appeared in front of her and put his hand over y/n shoulder, she turned around, sweat rolling down her face, she was still a bit pale.

“Don’t worry, if anything happens I’ll come get you.” He told her in a soft calming voice, damn his voice…it was so rough yet smooth. The accent coming in a bit, it could easily make any girl’s heart flutter just listening to it. Somehow she just felt safer when Arthur said it, she let out a soft sigh but had a quick smile nodding, clenching her fist.

“I got your backs.” She said, a bit unsure but at the same time she was filled to the brim with false confidence, Arthur nodded.

“Alright, let’s get going Arthur!” Hosea called to him, taking his horse with him, y/n smiled and watched the duo ride off, looking back at (horse’s name) she had enough food for a week and her sleeping bag, the only real things she needed out there.

“What did you tell Miss l/n?” Hose asked Arthur as they hiked up the hills that seemed to have an infinite amount of trees.

“What do you mean?” Arthur asked Hosea.

“Well, she seemed very calm after you spoke to her…just wondered what you said is all.” Hosea said bluntly.

“I told her what you told her.”

“To not worry?”

“Basically…”

“You must’ve added more, she didn’t give me that reaction.”

“I just assured her safety is all…”

“Assured her…safety?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you assure her-“

“-Can we not talk about that?” Arthur asked Hosea, a bit annoyed while he looked around to make sure they were going the right way.

“Well excuse me but you know you two seem closer.”

“We seem closer?”

“Well closer than before.”

“We ain’t closer Hosea, we still the same.”

“Don’t give me that.”

“Don’t give you what?” Arthur asked Hosea, playing dumb a bit. Hosea grumbled, stopping a bit causing Arthur to stop as well, he had both his hands on his hips giving him a ‘don’t play with me’ look.

“I know you like I know the back of my hand, Mr. Arthur Morgan, you’re acting just the same exact way as you acted with Mary back in the day…you haven’t changed a bit.” Hosea said with a grin, Arthur’s blue eyes widen, turning away from Hosea to try and hide his red flushed face.

“I dunno what you’re talking about-“

“Arthur just know…well…girls like her…they fall in love quite…hard.”

“…What do you mean by, ‘Girls like her’…?”

“Girls who never had love to call their own…”Hosea responded.

It was the next day already, Hosea and Arthur had already planted their bait and y/n was watching over them. Nothing had happened yet, not a single sign. She sighed a bit impatiently while she drank down some coffee she made a bit earlier.

Being a lookout was boring.

She already wished she was with them preparing or something, y/n turned to her horse and smiled at him. “Hey (horse’s name) do you think I may a good hunter?” She asked him, who only snorted in response. “Yeah you’re right…I’m way too impatient-“ Y/n’s words slowly came to an end, she went silent. The once chirping birds were silent as well, y/n slowly stood up looking around, defenses up. All of a sudden in an instant a flock of birds flew over her head.

“W…What in the world…” She whispered, turning back to Arthur and Hosea, she gasped softly, almost out of breath. The bear was right there, right behind Arthur. The larger than life beast was almost triple Arthur’s small ant size from where y/n was standing, she gasped calling out to him.

“A-ARTHUR!” She screamed at him on the top of her lungs, but she knew it wasn’t enough, he wasn’t turning around. She felt the blood in her veins rushing through her body, grabbing onto the rifle she aimed at the bear, shooting it right in the center of it’s back. Letting out a soft gasp, her face was pale in fear, sweat rolling down her face.

Arthur heard a gunshot behind him, he turned around and saw the large bear tower over him, his blue hues widen as the bear leaped to attack, he dodged the attack by the skin of his teeth. Hosea pulled Arthur up to his feet, the duo got their weapons ready, Hosea aimed his shotgun right in front of the beast and pulled the trigger but the bear moved out of the way, smacking Hosea causing his body to fling across the dirt.

“Hosea!” Arthur shouted after him, but before he could run to the old man’s aid the bear pounced on him, mauling at his arm. Arthur grunted in pain, using his other arm to try and beat the bear, he could feel his muscles tearing.

“A-Arthur!” Y/n gasped loudly, she watched from afar the bear on top of the poor man. Quickly she aimed her rifle at the bear’s head, but it was difficult to get a clear shot with the way it was moving around, from side to side vigorously. But y/n had to take the shot, she let out a long breath and pulled the trigger it shot the bear straight in the ear.

Arthur’s blue hues widen, blood spilling onto his face, he was able to get a knife that was knocked off of him, stabbing the bear.

“Arthur!” Hosea called to him.

“Get this thing off of me!” Arthur shouted at Hosea, quickly Hosea picked up his gun again and shot at the bear straight in the stomach, the bear yelled in pain and retreated.

“Shit…” Arthur coughed loudly, catching his breath.

“Are you alright?” Hosea asked him, putting his arm around his shoulder.

“Yeah…yeah…” Arthur grumbled. “There’s your fucking bear for you.” He grumbled, hissing a bit in pain while he picked up his hat and other stuff that he dropped.

Y/n gasped loudly, running down the hill to Arthur at full speed, her horse caught up with her and y/n rode him down the hill in a rush. “Hiya!” She shouted the duo rode quickly past the trees and shrubs.

“Arthur!” Y/n shouted catching up to them, hopping off of her horse she quickly ran to his side. Her (eye color) eyes widen, sweat rolling down her face, her mouth flung open looking at his arm. It was bleeding, there were some teeth marks sinking from his skin and clothes.

“It ain’t much girl-“ Arthur was interrupted by y/n, already taking out some strong alcohol and cutting a piece of her clothing off as a makeshift bandage.

“Mr. Matthews are you okay?” She asked Hosea while she prepared to fix Arthur.

“I’m alright, just fine,” Hosea responded, catching his breath.

“Girl I told you-“

“No.” Y/n interrupted him, grabbing his arm. “I was told to patch you guys up if anything happened…just let me do this.” She pleaded with him, Arthur let out a long sigh and nodded. Y/n smiled softly at him, grabbing onto the Vodka and handing it to him. “You might want to take a quick swig.”

“Is it gonna burn?”

“Like hell…”

“Shit…” Arthur grumbled taking a quick swig of the drink, handing it back to y/n. The alcohol burned the back of his throat, did it taste like shit but it helped him calm his nerves.

“Are you ready?” Y/n asked him, ready to pour the alcohol on his arm, Arthur nodded. She poured the drink onto his wound, Arthur hissed in pain, squirming a bit but y/n was already patching him up with her tore off the cloth. Arthur watched y/n patch him up, so did Hosea. She looked like she was in her element…Arthur couldn’t help but find it a bit romantic…but he loved her soft touch, muttering soft lectures underneath her breath, all the ones he heard before.

Her hands wrapping the cloth around his wound, it somehow made the pain go away, every time she scrunched up her nose, or how focused she was on her work. It somehow made it bearable.


	19. "The Night Sky"

Arthur bit down on his lip, while the alcohol sizzled into his open wound. The alcohol seeping into his skin, it pained him almost like any other bullet but worse.

“Honestly Mr. Morgan you need to be careful!” Y/n lectured him, shaking her head. She glanced up at him, furrowing her brows. “You know you gave me a heart attack I’ll let you know!” She grumbled.

“All right, all right I hear you girl,” Arthur muttered softly to him. Y/n sighed softly, she looked back at him a bit sympathetic. She wanted to stop cleaning out his wound in order to spare him the pain, but she bit down on her mouth to march forward.

Arthur was able to notice that y/n looked concerned and almost sympathetic, he knew that y/n didn’t like to clean the wound. He wanted to comfort her in a strange way, so he made a small grin.

“It don’t hurt much Ms. L/n, don’t worry about it.” He lied in order to comfort her. Y/n looked up to him a bit hopeful, but she had a gut feeling that he was lying, but y/n didn’t know why. Before she could say anything else, coughing a bit turning to Hosea.

“Are you sure you’re all right Mr. Matthews?”

“Yes of course,” He assured her. “but I think we should start heading back now,” Hosea suggested to the duo.

“But what about the bear?” Arthur asked.

“We can try again later, it’s probably all acted up,” Hosea explained.

“Do you guys wanna go after the bear…again?” Y/n asked him, tilting her head to the side. Looking at the duo a bit nervously, she didn’t want another bear attack on either of the two men. Arthur let out a long and soft sigh, glancing over at y/n.

“Nah… I don’t wanna go back to that bear, not with my arm like this.” He told Hosea gesturing to his wounded arm that y/n had barely finished patching up. The trio decided to head out once y/n was finished with patching up Arthur’s wound, they ended up settling to where y/n was originally was when Hosea and Arthur were going after the bear.

Y/n set up the fire and handed out drinks to the men and even cooked some of their canned beans on a frying pan she brought with her. Hosea being the old man he was, was the first one to fall asleep, wishing the duo ‘goodnight’. Y/n looked into the fire, shaking her head at Arthur, pouting a bit. She still wanted to know, why he lied to her regarding the pain, she looked up to him.

Arthur seemed to be at ease, something a cigarette, blowing the smoke into the dark blue sky. The stars twinkling with the moonlight shining on him, y/n would be lying if she said she didn’t find him attractive. All of a sudden his blue haze made contact with y/n, she perked up quickly looking away from him.

“What?”

“Huh?” Y/n questioned.

“Why are you starrin’ at me?” He asked her bluntly, y/n felt her stomach drop, she wasn’t expecting that question.

“W-Well I was just wondering why were you lying to me…”

“When was I lying to you?” Arthur asked her challenging her a bit. Y/n tensed up, she looked at him across from the flames, he looked cool, calm and collected. The cigarette still hanging from his lips, the two stared one another down for a bit.

“When I was cleaning your wound, you said it didn’t hurt much, but I-I knew you were hurting.” She explained, hugging her knees closer to her chest.

“I said it don’t hurt much.” Arthur corrected her.

“But it was hurting you a lot..!”

“Calm down Ms. L/n…alright?”

“But Mr. Morgan..!”

“All right, I only said that to make you feel a bit better…” He explained to her. “You looked nervous, pale…I thought maybe if I gave you some comfort maybe you’d feel a bit better.” He explained to her.

“Mr. Morgan…it’s fine, you didn’t need to…I was just a bit in shock in all honesty.”

“In shock?”

“Of the bear…I was just nervous that you and Mr. Matthews well…you know.” Y/n grumbled, hugging herself looking at the smoke coming out of the fire, she looked up to the night sky. “Hey look it’s the ‘Big Dipper’.”

“The what?” Arthur questioned looking up at the sky with y/n, she giggled a bit and Arthur’s response. She pointed at the sky, tracing her fingers through the sky over the bright stars.

“You see? There’s the handle and there’s the pot if you follow the star on the edge you might be able to find the ‘Little dipper’.” Y/n explained to the cowboy, who only grunted in response.

“I-I…don’t see it.” He explained.

“Here lemme show you.” Y/n got up from her spot and sat down next to Arthur, he perked up a bit. He wasn’t exactly ready for y/n to come by next to him, she then pointed up at the night sky running her fingers through the sky once more, tracing the stars.

“See, there’s the ‘Big Dipper’ on the handle and there is a pot right here.” Y/n explained to him.

“Uh…” Arthur grumbled, not seeing where it was. “Sorry girl this stuff is too smart for me.” He told her.

“Nonsense.” Y/n said with a soft smile, shaking her head. “It’s just memory…see?” Y/n then out of nowhere not being able to control herself, she quickly grabbed onto Arthur’s arm and traced the stars with his finger. Arthur felt his heart race a bit, not knowing how to react but he was able to notice the ‘Big Dipper’.

“Oh, I see it now.” He explained, y/n smiled and turned to him. Her (eye color) eyes widen, quickly y/n let go over him laughing a bit awkwardly turning away from him, pushing the (hair color) strand behind her ear. Arthur noticed y/n’s quick awkward reaction, he decided to try and help her take her mind out of the small occurrence. “How do you know all of this stuff girl?”

“Well…books.” Y/n responded.

“Books? You read?”

“Well when I was a little girl I didn’t play all that much so I snuck into my daddy’s study and read his books, then when I was married I used to read my husband’s books.” She explained to Arthur still turned away from him, looking at the fire.

“Really, you read anything?” He asked her.

“Anythin’ and everyhin’” Y/n responded. “Actually…Mr. Morgan, you write as well?” She asked him a bit curiously.

“H-Huh?” Arthur grumbled, a bit shocked that y/n noticed him writing in his journal.

“Well I’ve seen you write in your Lil journal, what are you writing if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I just write what happened that day.” He explained.

“Write what happened…?”

“Yeah, it’s nothin’ special.”

“Like what?”

“Just things that happened that day.”

“So would you write about the bear hunt?”

“Why are you asking me all of this?” He asked her.

“Well, I was just curious, to be honest, Mr. Morgan.” Y/n explained, yawning, stretching her back. “I always saw you writing in a Lil book…anyways I’m gonna head to sleep, it was nice speaking you to Mr. Morgan…goodnight.” Y/n then stood up and walked over to her sleeping bag.

“Goodnight…” Arthur responded, watching y/n get into her sleeping bag, he sighed looking at the dark blue sky. “‘The Big Dipper’” He said, pointing at the stars tracing over them in the air, a small smile appeared on his face.


	20. "Talkin' silly"

A/n: So just wanted to say that this will fanfic will NOT go one by one on the game’s chapters so ye just wanted to lay that out there 

 

_The girl taught me something today, she taught me how to read the stars. She taught me where the Big Dipper is._

_I told her I ain’t smart enough for that_

_But no matter how many times I look up to the night sky I see it and when I see it I think of her._

_I feel bad about the girl, she really ain’t much different from me_

_The girl…she’s something else…_

_Damn, I need to focus._

 

It was the next day Y/n, Hosea, and Arthur was already back at camp. Y/n felt a bit closer to Arthur after he shared his secret with him. She didn’t know just how similar the two were in reality. 

“Ms. L/n!” Sadie called to her with a big grin on her face. “How was it? Or wait a minute…I don’t see no bear…” Sadie muttered, she looked over to the horses and didn’t see any bears. She then turned her attention back to y/n and then Arthur. 

“The bear attacked em.” Y/n explained to her. 

“W-What are ya’ll alright?” Sadie asked her, worriedly, checking y/n’s arms and legs. 

“I’m fine.” Y/n responded with a soft grin, she couldn’t help but smile. Sadie was like another sister to her, or her only big sister. Sadie looked at y/n and smiled, nodding. 

“Looks like you’re alright.” She then watched Arthur walking by them. “Why hello Mr. Morgan, I see you’re still standing. W-Woah what happened to your arm?” She asked him, he noticed his arm was bloodily and wrapped up. Arthur looked down and noticed what she meant, it was his arm that was mauled by the bear. 

“Oh this? Ms. L/n patched me up after the bear attacked me.” He explained. 

“Huh?” Sadie questioned.

“Yep I’m alright now…thanks to Ms. L/n.” He told her, patting her on the back. Y/n perked up, a small faint blush was on her face, she covered her face. She didn’t expect that sudden touch, even if it was simple. Y/n gulped, slowly looking up to Arthur he also noticed the sudden physical touch. He quickly moved his hand back, awkwardly standing to the side of her. “I-I uh better get going…” He muttered, rubbing his hands together nervously. 

“Bye Mr. Morgan…!” Sadie called to him.

“See you later Mr. Morgan…” Y/n muttered softly underneath her breath. Sadie looked at y/n a bit smugly, she rose an eyebrow. “What?” Y/n asked her, Sadie wiggled her eyebrow.

“That look you gave Mr. Morgan.” She explained to her.

“…What look…?” Y/n asked her, acting dumb. 

“Don’t give me that,” Sadie said giving her a smug look. “that same look you gave Arthur is the same look I used to give my Jakey.” She explained over to her. Y/n looked over to Sadie a bit nervously, slowly raising an eyebrow. She had a good idea what Sadie was getting at but she didn’t want to confirm this…nor deny.

“I think you’re just talkin’ silly.” Y/n told Sadie.

“You think I’m just talkin’ silly?” Sadie asked her, with both her hands on her hips. She chuckled shaking her head at her, Sadie knew how Y/n felt, there was no fooling her. “Y/n, I saw the way he looked and you and you looked at him, I know that look.”

“C’mon don’t be like that…” Y/n stuttered underneath her breath, avoiding eye contact with her dear friend. She didn’t know how she felt about Arthur anymore, she couldn’t help but glance over at him. He was having a good time, talking with Dutch and Lenny. She sighed, shaking her head, she truly felt something. “W-Well we’ve gotten closer.” Y/n admitted to Sadie.

“Really now? How much closer?” Sadie asked her, leaning into her, y/n leaned back from her. 

“W-Well closer.” Y/n muttered.

“You two seem to be talking more so that’s good,” Sadie said with a grin. “Although I never saw him as your boyfrien-“ Y/n interrupted her quickly, shushing her. 

“D-Don’t talk too loudly about that stuff!” Y/n whispered to Sadie. “Listen…even I dunno how I feel about him…” She muttered softly. “He’s…different…” Y/n said blushing a bit, Sadie couldn’t help but giggle pulling her in close. 

“My y/n has a crush my y/n~,” Sadie said in a singsong voice, Y/n giggled a bit. She loved this, but she was still confused about Arthur. This was something she felt…it was so different…

She didn’t know what the hell it was.

She never felt it before…

Not in a long while

Y/n turned to her, Sadie had a big old smile on her face. 

“Ms. L/n!”

“Huh?” 

Y/n then looked up and saw Dutch was walking up to her, Sadie stopped her rocking around of the poor y/n. He smiled at the young women, greeting them. “Arthur was tellin’ me how you patched up his arm and all when the bear attacked him. He even said how much of a good shot you was."

“O-Oh really now?” Y/n stuttered, her face bright red. She never thought that Arthur would ever speak about her to others, or even compliment her. She felt honored. 

“Of course, now y/n…” Dutch then wrapped his arm over y/n’s shoulders, pulling her in close. “I was thinkin’ about you joinin’ us to rob a stagecoach.” He explained to her. 

“Y-You want me to join?” Y/n stuttered.  Dutch dragged y/n off away from Sadie, he took her over to the group that was with Arthur, Lenny, and Javier. Y/n had no idea that this was what the Dutch wanted or even offered her that job. 

“Of course Ms. L/n! You’re family now.” He explained to her. 

“W-Well I don’t see why not.” Y/n stuttered with a soft smile.

“Great Ms. L/n-“

“Did you tell Mr. Morgan?”

“Huh? Mr. Morgan…?”

“W-Well…” Y/n stuttered, sweat rolling down her face, her heart was racing out of her chest. She didn’t know if Dutch caught on her quick anxious look, she didn’t have any idea why she was acting like this. “I just thought well ya know, he’s sorta like my teacher…s-so I thought he should know.”

“Ah, I see,” Dutch said nodding. “Well, we’ll tell him right now.”

“W-Wait what-“ Y/n was interrupted by Dutch dragging her in. 

“Hey, Arthur!”

“Yes, Dutch?”

“I was just gonna tell ya that Ms. L/n is going to join us robbing the stagecoach,” Dutch explained to him.

_“What…?”_


	21. "Long Rides Short Tempers"

 

Y/n felt her heart racing, she had no idea that Arthur had no idea. He looked at y/n and then at Dutch, he felt annoyed and pissed off. Dutch looked back at Arthur, he seemed very cocky and not that bothered by Arthur’s glare. 

“You wanna bring the girl?” Arthur asked Dutch, gesturing to her. 

“Yes, Arthur, the girl is coming along. She’s a good sniper and she a pretty good medic.” He explained to him. “Ms. L/n is needed in this damn raid Arthur.” He told him, he then looked over at y/n. “How long do you think it’ll take for Arthur to heal up his arm?” He asked her, y/n looked over at his arm, luckily the mauling wasn’t as bad as y/n first thought so it wouldn't take that long to heal up. She looked back to Dutch, letting out a soft sigh.

“Give it a week.”

“A week? Well, thank god cause that’s when the train is supposed to come by! Ain’t it great Arthur? Ms. L/n is finally gonna start to learn how to rob folk and fend herself!” He said with a big smile, wrapping his arm over Arthur’s shoulder, Arthur couldn’t help but grumble in response, he was obviously not happy with this. Y/n noticed this and also became a bit upset and distant, avoiding eye contact with Arthur.

“Hey good for you Ms. L/n!” Javier praised her with a big smile on his face, wrapping his arms over y/n’s shoulders, pulling her close. Almost like a big brother proud of his little sister, she only let out a nervous chuckle nodding. 

“Y-Yeah…I’ll be able to pull my own weight…” She said softly. 

“Alright Ms. L/n you can head along now, we’ll talk more about the planning later.” Dutch dismissed her, y/n slowly nodded. She couldn’t help but look over at Arthur a bit, he wasn’t looking at her. She let out a soft sigh, before leaving the group. 

“Dutch, can I talk to you for a moment?” Arthur asked him, holding his arm. Dutch turned to him, sighing he nodded. Arthur took Dutch away from everyone else and then talked to him in a dark tone. “I don’t think it ain’t right bringing the girl, she’ll get herself killed-“

“Now Arthur, Ms. L/n has been out on serval missions, robbing a Lil train shouldn’t be that bad,” Dutch told Arthur. 

“But nothing as big as this! She’ll just be baggage! Nothin’ more than deadweight!” Arthur shouted at Dutch. “You’re making the girl do dangerous things, she’s still a girl damn it.”

“All the more to teach them young…right?” Dutch asked him with a smirk on his face. “You were younger than her robbing your first train, I think you just lack faith in me a-and Ms. L/n.”

“No that ain’t it Dutch…”

“Then what is?”

“Sh-she just ain’t ready.”

“Ain’t ready,,,? C’mon now Arthur you don’t _really_ think.” 

“D-Dutch-“

“That’s enough Arthur, I’ve had enough of you. She’ll be coming along and that’s final.” Dutch snarled at him walking away from him annoyed. Arthur snarled loudly, slamming his fist against the tree trunk. In reality, he didn’t want y/n to be in danger…he didn’t want her to get hurt or killed. When you rob trains, folks always get shoot. He didn’t want that possibility, if anything if she was coming along, he wanted her to be close to him. 

He wanted to protect her. 

He was just nervous and scared for y/n. 

She was just important to him for some reason. 

Arthur looked up to y/n, taking a small glance at her. She was with Susan doing some of the housework, he could hear Susan shouting at y/n but she mostly stayed quiet. 

All of a sudden y/n looked up and the two made eye contact with one another, there was a long moment of silence. Arthur’s face slowly became flushed and looked away from her. 

 _“Shit…”_ He muttered underneath his breath, he looked down at his hands. He was trembling, he had no idea what was coming over him. He just wanted to protect her, he just wanted her to be next to him.

He didn’t trust the others to protect him how he would protect her. 

Y/n muttered softly underneath her breath, looking away from Arthur. She knew that he had a problem with her joining the robbery and she had no idea why. 

Was she just dead weight to him?

Too young?

Too naive?

Y/n shook her head, she was going through the rabbit hole of negative thoughts of course. She carried the large boxes of moonshine to Mr. Pearson. Abigail noticed y/n’s distant nature and saw the small glances she would take to look at Arthur before lowering her head back down and stare at the floor. Abigail walked over to y/n and helped her with the box of moonshine.

“Oh here, let me help you with that,” Abigail said softly, y/n smiled at her thanking her. “You know y/n…are you alright? Well I mean are you and Arthur okay?” She asked her.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Y/n asked her. 

“Well it’s just that you’ve been acting a bit strangely with Mr. Morgan is all…I’ve seen you exchanging the glances.” She told her. 

“A-Ah I see…” Y/n muttered softly, rubbing her hands together awkwardly. She laughed a bit nervously as well trying to get rid of the stressed atmosphere. Abigail shot her a small concern look, raising her eyebrow. 

“Ms. L/n…”

“U-Uh it’s nothing really!” Y/n tried to quickly regard Abigail’s concern. 

“Ms. L/n…”

“O-Okay, it’s just well Mr. Morgan doesn’t seem too keen on me joining the robbery.” Y/n explained to her, Abigail’s eyes widen, her mouth flung open.

“You’re what? You’re joining the boys on the train robbery?” She asked her, y/n slowly nodded. 

“Mr. Van Der Lind was the one who suggested that I go w-well he more like _insisted._ “ Y/n explained to her. 

“ ** _Insisted_**?” Abigail grumbled shaking her head. “Ms, L/n are you sure about this? I mean you’re still so young and well these toe of things are dangerous.” She explained to her, y/n sighed nodding. She knew all of the dangers and the terrors with being apart of a gang. 

“I-I know Mrs. Martson.” Y/n muttered softly, looking back at her. “I just wanted to be more to this gang is all…” Y/n told her, handing the moonshine over to Mr. Pearson. 

“Well now I know why Mr. Morgan doesn’t like you going on this robbery,” Abigail muttered underneath her breath, y/n couldn’t help but get a bit offended. She glared at her a bit, putting her hands over her hips, a bit sassily. 

“What does that suppose to mean?”

“W-Well don’t take it the wrong way!” Abigail quickly dismissed y/n’s small bit of sass. “I was just sayin’ you’re still young and all I just don’t want you to get all messed up! Also your wound and such-“

“Mrs. Martson, I’m fine.” Y/n interrupted her. “I get it you’re worried but I’m only the third youngest person here, right next to Jack and Lenny!” Y/n told her. “Alright? Don’t worry about me now, I can do more than what ya’ll think.” She told her, getting the rest of the moonshine. 

 

It was already the time of the robbery. The gang was packing up some of the resources, Charles, Sean, John, and Arthur were the ones that were gonna rob the train blind. Y/n already felt a bit nervous and intimated around the group, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone has done it before a million times over, y/n however this was her first. Y/n patted her horse, looking around at the gang already almost finished packing up.

“Don’t worry Ms. L/n you won’t be in the line of fire either, your job is just to stay back, be on the outline,” Charles told her, patting her horse. He could tell that y/n was more nervous, her hands were trembling and sweat was rolling down her face. The group was supposed to meet John somewhere since e stole some oil. Y/n knew the plan like the back of her hand, they were gonna plant the oil cart right in the middle of the tracks forcing them to stop, then after that hell was gonna break lose.

“Thank you Mr. Smith.” Y/n thanked him with a small smile on her face. Arthur then walked up to y/n, his arm was already healed since for some reason he always healed ridiculously quick, but she couldn’t help but feel small compared to him. Every step he took towards her y/n felt even smaller, and smaller until he stood right next to her. Y/n gulped slowly looking up to him, her heart was racing out of her chest, she took a deep breath and smiled at him. 

“What can I do for you…Mr. Morgan?” Y/n asked him, Arthur then went down her level, grabbing onto her arm. 

 _“Stay within my line of sight, do you understand me…girl?”_ He snarled at her, y/n slowly nodded. She felt terrified of him, especially with that dark tone he gave her. He nodded, Charles then interfered in between the two, putting his hand over Arthur’s.

“I think she gets the idea.”

Arthur grumbled something in response, letting go y/n, he then walked off to his horse. She rubbed her arm since he was clenching onto it a bit too tightly. Charles sighed shaking his head, he had no idea what in the hell was getting into Arthur. 

“I’m sorry about that, I dunno what the hell is wrong with him.” Charles apologized for Arthur.

“It’s fine Mr. Smith…Mr. Morgan is just…something else…”

“Yeah, you got that right…."

\


	22. "The Perfect Weather To Rob Some Bastards Blind"

The sky was dark and foggy, it was already nighttime which was the perfect time to rob these suckers blind. It’ll allow the group to blend in within the darkness and the police wouldn’t be out by now, not this late at least. It was the perfect time and weather for a good robbing. 

The group rode over to the oil, Arthur took the reigns and drove the oil, Y/n was on her own horse and the rest of the gang was with Arthur on the oil. Arthur glanced over at her, making sure that she was close by him. 

“Ms. L/n you better stay close to me.” He warned her, y/n looked over at him. He looked menacing and dark, like he meant every word, all she could do was meekly nod. She let out a long soft sigh, nodding.

“Of course…Mr. Morgan.” 

“Hey go easy on her.” Charles tried to defend her, Arthur looked over to him, raising an eyebrow towards him. Obviously, he was a bit angry that Charles tried to defend her. 

“This is her first mission, Charles who knows what she’ll do or react to everything.” He told him. 

“You’re making the poor wee las nervous.” Sean pointed out, Arthur took one more look at y/n. She did look very much overwhelmed and intimated, her face was pale almost like she saw a ghost. 

“Yeah, Arthur just cool it down on her. She’ll do fine.” John added. Y/n was a bit surprised that the men were defending her from Arthur, she wouldn’t have accepted that. She would’ve assumed they wouldn’t say anything or even side with Arthur! But here they were, defending y/n. 

Arthur only grumbled in response to the three men.

“T-Thank you, everyone.” Y/n stuttered with a small smile on her face. “I’m just some medic girl though a-and a sniper at least.” 

“Yes, and a damn good one at that.” John complimented her. “Abigail was telling me how much you taught her some stuff and it really helped with the boy! Thank you Ms. L/n.”

“You’re welcome Mr. Martson.” Y/n responded. 

“Here should be good enough,” Charles said, Arthur stopped the horses. Y/n stopped as well, Arthur then glanced over at y/n.

“This is your stop girl, don’t forget to put the bandana on, and don’t shoot unless you have to.” He warned her, y/n nodded, putting her bandana on covering a majority of her face. She could see the train tracks from where she was at. Y/n’s job was to just ride on the outskirts and make sure she’s not anywhere close to the train. 

“You’ll do fine Ms. L/n.” Sean reassured her with his ionic grin.Y/n smiled in return, nodding. The men then put their bandanas on, just before they were about to rode off y/n spoke up softly. 

“Good luck everyone…”

“Don’t worry this will be easy!” John said a bit too cockily. 

“Thank you.” Charles nodded. 

“Why thank you las! But we shall be back before you know it!” Sean added, Arthur then responded to the wish of luck, y/n glanced over at him.

“Good luck to you too…Mr. Morgan.”

“Yeah, yeah…” He grumbled. 

Y/n felt a bit nervous but she felt happy that he did at least say something, then men then rode off to the train tracks. Y/n watched them from afar, watching them through her scope in the snipe, looking at them. She watched them ride for a moment and then planting the oil in the tracks. She watched Arthur ordering around the other three, pointing at a spot for them, they hide by the spot. Arthur made sure the horses weren’t anywhere near the oil, he then stood up on the oil, cocking his gun while the train drove towards him and coming at a quick halt. 

_It was showtime._

“What’s going on here?!” One of the engineers shouted at Arthur coming out of the train. Then out of nowhere Charles knocked out the engineer, lotting the body but not finding anything.

“Nothing good,” Charles told Arthur, Arthur got off of the oil and walked to the train.

“I’m going on board make that quick and just there,” Arthur told Charles, John, and Sean then walked up to the train ready to board the train as well. Arthur went into the first car breaking in, the pendents then screamed loudly at the sight of Arthur. 

“Everybody stay calm or you’re dead!” John shouted at them, a man then stood up and Arthur simply punched him causing him to collapse. John shoved a bag in their faces, demanding that they give up everything they had. Every time a person said they had nothing or refused, Arthur would beat them until they gave up something.

Y/n was mortified. 

But some reason she found it ever so thrilling. 

John went over to the baggage car while Arthur did the rest of the pendants. Y/n’s eyes widen, she heard the police riding towards them and y/n couldn’t warn them well…she could. Y/n’s eyes light up quickly getting a plan, she aimed her scoped and shot a box getting Sean’s attention who was looking out for Arthur while he robbed the baggage. Sean looked up a bit confused from the shot and saw y/n waving her arms at them and then pointing towards the police that he didn’t see it until she pointed it out.

“Arthur, we got a problem,” Sean warned Arthur. “Ms. L/n is warning us that there’s two assholes on horses.”

“How many you say?” Arthur asked Sean.

“I just see a pair of them.” 

“Alright, in that case, we’re fighting…” Arthur said getting ready to shoot them down. “Martson, Smith, get ready.” He told the other two men that were on the other side of the cart. Y/n watched the policemen talking to them, she felt nervous and well a bit shaky. She knew that she wasn’t allowed to shoot unless it was a life or death situation after all she couldn’t give away her position. 

“You men come off the train now, do you hear?” The lawman shouted at them. 

“We said you men come out now!” Another one shouted. 

“There’s only two of you, you fools!” Arthur retorted. “We’ve got a whole lot less to lose. Why don’t the two of you ride away? That way neither of you get killed, god damn liberties...” He asked them, y/n’s face turned pale more of them showed up behind the original two. 

“There’s more turning up!” Sean warned Arthur.

“Me and my big mouth…” Arthur grumbled. “Okay…” He sighed cocking his gun. “Let’s deal with them.” Arthur then started to shoot at them and so did the others. Y/n’s heart started to beat out of her chest, hoping they weren’t going to get overwhelmed at all. 

One after one, lawmen started to fall, they were no match for the gang.

“C’mon quick we need to make a run for it!” Charles warned them. 

“Arthur behind ya-“ Sean was interrupted by a loud gunshot. Arthur turned around while blood splattered onto his face, he wasn’t paying attention and almost didn’t notice one of the lawmen was behind him with a gun to his head. Y/n let out a long deep breath, her finger still trembling on the trigger, she shot the bastard straight in the head. She didn’t know she had in her, she never once killed a man and this is how it felt.

Blood rushing, nerve-racking it was like being reborn once again into someone else, she couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. It was a clean shot, however, it didn’t stop her heart racing. 

“They’ve got a sniper! Watch your heads!” The lawmen started to shout. Y/n’s face turned pale, she knew now that they knew she was out there. Y/n quickly reloaded her rifle and shot a couple more of them down. 

“God damn it what is that girl doing!” Arthur snarled underneath his breath, he could see y/n shooting and shooting. 

“Buying us time,” Charles told her.

“C’mon Ms. l/n is distracting them, let’s move!” John shouted at them getting onto his horse, Sean followed him and so did Charles. Arthur shook his head, he didn’t want y/n to engage in the action, hell she even killed her first man. Arthur waved his hat at her to get her attention, y/n looked up and saw him riding off, quickly y/n got onto her horse and rode off as well, while she was riding the horse she saw more lawmen turning up. 

“They just don’t quit!” Y/n muttered underneath her breath, aiming at the light that they were holding, she then pulled the trigger. The light went off and caught two of them on fire, not such a bad shot if she said so herself. 

“God damn that girl can shoot!” Sean shouted. “I didn’t think she was that good!” 

“She saved your life, Arthur you should thank her,” Charles told him.

“She was damn reckless.” Arthur snarled underneath his breath. They then rode off to the spot that they were supposed to meet up, y/n made it there as well, panting a bit. 

“That was fun boys and lady, real fun!” Sean said with a big grin on his face while Arthur scattered the cash, tossing one to each member. “Good shooting las! And you said that you never shot a gun.” He told her with a big grin, patting her on the back.

“Good shooting,” Charles added. 

“Looks like Arthur taught you well!” John said with a big grin, nodding. The group joked around a bit with one another but Arthur still was a bit angry with y/n. 

“Thank you.” Y/n said with a soft smile.

“We still need a real big take…enough for us to get out of here!” He told the group, this take was good, everyone had a 100 each but they still needed more. 

“Was that a setup?” John asked. “Law turned up real fast if it weren’t for Ms. L/n’s warning we wouldn’t have been prepared.” 

“A-A set up?” Y/n stuttered underneath her breath.

“I don’t know,” Arthur responded, shaking his head. “I don’t think so…I’m starting to get nervous.” He admitted. 

“Think they followed us from Blackwater?” Charles asked, y/n was nervous, she was out of the loop. She didn’t have any idea what they were talking about, this was before she joined the gang. 

“Maybe,” Arthur responded. “They found me already near Horseshoe but…” He then glanced over at y/n, he didn’t want her to hear anything else. He stopped himself, motioning the boys to the girl. 

“O-Oh right…” Sean muttered. 

“Who cares? She’s family now-“ John was interrupted by Arthur.

“We’ve only known her for a month.” He told them. “She don’t know nothing that’s going on.” He whispered to him. 

“What happened in Blackwater…?” Y/n asked them, a bit concerned and confused. 

“None of your business, you all can ride ahead, we’ll talk about this later.” He told the three other guys in the group, they nodded saying their goodbyes leaving y/n and Arthur by themselves before y/n could ask anything else concerning Blackwater or Horseshoe. “Listen, girl, what did I tell you about shooting?” He snarled at her.

“To not shoot unless it’s a necessity b-but Mr. Morgan I don’t think I did anything wrong!” Y/n objected. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong?” He slowly asked her, raising an eyebrow. “What did you do? You shot up 4 other men!” 

“I did but-“

“You did, so you ain’t got nothing to say, you didn’t even need to shoot _any of them!”_ Arthur snarled at her.

“Not even the one behind you?” Y/n retorted, clenching her fist while glaring at him. She felt her blood boiling, how could he say that to her? After she saved his life?

“Not even that one.”

“Well I don’t regret it, Mr. Morgan! I did what I had to and I don’t regret it.”

“You don’t regret killing a man? Don’t you know what the puts on your head girl? Do you? It never stops haunting you-“

“Well I saved you didn’t I? I didn’t want you to die so that man’s life was more than worth it to save yours.” Y/n told him, she was clenching her fist so much that her nails dug into her skin, blood rolling down her hand to her elbow. Arthur looked at her, she seemed determined and full of righteousness. A small sigh escaped up from chapped lips.  


	23. "The last day of my adolescence"

Arthur slowly looked up to y/n front underneath his hat, he didn’t know that y/n would get as emotional as she got. He noticed just how emotionally distraught she was, seeing the blood rolling down her hands to her elbows.”I know you did girl…and thank you.” He thanked her, y/n’s face quickly turned soft and surprised even, a small gasp escaping her lips. Y/n never thought in a million years that he would ever say those two words to her in a lifetime…they just meant 1000 of other things.

“M-Mr. Morgan…” She stuttered. 

“It’s just…it’s a lot, ya understand?” He asked her very softly. “It’s a lot to take a man’s life girl…” For some reason the way he said, ‘girl’ was soft and caring. He isn’t trying to insult her or be rude towards her, he sounded genuine. A small sigh and nod escaped from y/n. 

“I-I understand Mr. Morgan b-but I couldn’t just let you die.” She told him softly, rubbing her arm a bit in solemness. Y/n knew she couldn’t live with herself if she let Arthur die, he was a good man and deserved so much more than being killed by a gunshot wound. Slowly y/n looked up to him she seemed a bit nervous and distraught. “You’re a good man Mr. Morgan…” She told him softly.

“I ain’t no good man girl, you don’t even know me.” Arthur retorted y/n looked at him a bit confused at what he just said. She looked at him, she knew that he thought that he was right, that he was no good man. 

“Well you’re a good man to me.” Y/n told him bluntly. 

“Then you must have very low expectations.” 

“Maybe, but a good man did what you did for me…”

“And what was that?”

“Take me in.” 

Arthur perked up a bit, slowly gaping his mouth. He looked at her a bit shocked and stunned. He had no idea how to respond to that, he only grumbled in response riding away with his horse, y/n followed behind him. 

“What happened in Blackwater?” She asked him.

“Nothing that concerns you-“

“But I’m apart of this gang, of course, this concerns me.” Y/n argued back. 

“It was before you were apart of this gang alright? You ain’t got nothing to worry your pretty little head.” He told her, y/n furrowed her eyebrows glaring at him a bit. She got frustrated that he wouldn’t tell her at all, she even felt a bit insulted. 

“Maybe I’ll just ask around-“

“No one will tell you anything-“

“Not even Mrs. Martson?” Y/n asked her folding her arms above her chest raising an eyebrow at him, he stood back a bit stunned at how quickly y/n was able to pry. “Now please, Mr. Morgan tell me what happened in Horseshoe? Or Blackwater, you heard Mr. Martson said it might have been a set up, that entire heist! What if we’re being followed around, Mr. Morgan?” Y/n asked him, he looked at her. She seemed nervous and worried, he could tell that y/n was over thinking again, just like usual. 

“It wasn’t no set up.” Arthur tried to reassure her.

“How do I know that if something happened back then that was so terrible that it might come back to bite you?” Y/n asked him. Arthur turned to y/n, she seemed worried and even a bit remorseful. 

“Listen… _girl_ …” He sighed softy. “That is something that involved Dutch.” He explained to her. “He made some mistakes there…”

“M-Mr. Van Der Lind?” Y/n stuttered, she was a bit stunned that it was Dutch who made a mistake, after all even though he’s an Outlaw he was a good man. He taught Tilly how to read and write, took Sadie in, took _her_ in. She couldn’t ever think of Dutch hurting someone that was innocent or doing any terrible along those lines, she looked over at Arthur and he looked serious, looking at the dirt path. 

“When will you tell me, Mr. Morgan? Do you not trust me?” Y/n asked him softly. Arthur sighed, shaking his head. 

“That ain’t it girl-“

“But you told Mr. Martson that I’m not family-“

“I didn’t mean that.” Arthur interrupted her. “I was just angry…alright? Besides what about _your_ family, don’t you wanna go back to your momma?” He asked her.

“You know my answer to that.”

“Don’t you wanna see ‘em? Tell ‘em what happened?”

“No, they live all the way in Saint-Denis, You’re stuck with me, Mr. Morgan so just deal with it.” Y/n told him with both hands on her hips glaring at him. “I can carry my own, you saw what I did back there! I ain’t some little girl that needs daddy’s help, so stop treating me like one.” 

“What’s with all of this grown talk, huh girl? Before you wouldn’t say a word and now here you are getting a big mouth and attitude.” He told her bluntly. 

“You keep treating me like a little girl, you and everyone else back at camp! You know what Mrs. Martson said to me when I told her Mr. Van Der Lind asked me to go on the robbery? Hm?  _‘Well now, I know why Mr. Morgan Doesn’t like you going on this robbery.’”_ Y/n told him, she was visibly angry and irritated. “The only people that don’t treat me like a little girl is only a handful, Mr. Esculea, Mr.Martson, Ms. Adler, Mr. MacGurrie, Mr. Van Der Lind, and Mr. Smith.” Y/n explained to him. “Everyone else? Treat me more like a girl, they even treat Lenny more like a man when I’m older than him.” Y/n grumbled, clenching her fist. 

“Mr. Martson? He’s on that list? Well, he must’ve been recent, aye? He also tells his wife how young you is, and how naive you is too.” Arthur explained to her.

“Well he ain’t wrong.” Y/n grumbled, folding her arms above her chest. “Ya’ll don’t think I know that I know that I was brought up differently than each and every single one of you, being sheltered and all but that don’t mean nothing now, how much do I have to do to prove that I’m not some little girl, to them?   _To you!”_ Y/n told him, sending him a small glare. Arthur gasped a bit, he didn’t expect her to turn the tables on him once more. He looked at y/n, not knowing how to respond.

“I-I don’t know Ms. L/n.” He stuttered a bit.

“That’s what I thought, it don’t matter how many times I save your life or how many times I kill a man, it’ll never make a difference…now would it?” Y/n asked him, the last part sounded more sad and disappointed. She looked away from Arthur and looked at the road, she was tired of it all. Ever since she was born she was treated like this, like a little girl. 

It didn’t matter how old she was, everyone treated her the same. 

Even though y/n was no longer a little girl, at least in her eyes.

Arthur noticed y/n was ahead of him, he rode up to her and put his hand over y/n’s shoulder and sighed. 

“Listen…we’re all just worried about you.”

“Why? I-I’m old enough to do these types of things-“

“The thing is Ms. L/n you’re still young and new to all of this, just wait a bit. Alright? You’ll gain everyone’s respect soon, alright? Lenny just has more of an upper hand cause he’s been with us longer…do you understand?” Y/n sighed nodding.

“You’re right…I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, girl. for what it’s worth, you’ve been doing good.” Y/n’s ears perked up, a small blush forming on her face, her mouth gaping open a bit. She quickly hid her face away from Arthur and covered her mouth by pretending to cough loudly. 

 

Y/n and Arthur made it back to camp, y/n was greeted with the group of girls surrounding her, asking her if she was okay same old, same old. Mary-Beth walked up to y/n and dusted off the dirt she had on her clothes. 

“Ms. L/n, are you okay? How was it? They didn’t make you hurt anyone right?” Mary- Beth asked her. 

“I uh…killed a man.” 

“You _what?!”_ Mary-Beth gasped. 

“Are you okay? D-Did it mess with your mind?” Tilly asked her. 

“U-Uh…” Y/n stuttered.

“Did you really kill a man, y/n?” Sadie asked her. 

“I thought you was just there as a medic,” Abigail added. 

“U-Uh w-well I-“

“Get away from her,” Susan called to the group of girls, both hands on her hips. “You all have work to do, and so does she. So what she killed a man to don’t matter, don’t act like none of you haven’t killed either.” She told them swaying her hips around. “Now let the girl do her own work, go on now!” She then shooed all the girls away, she stared at y/n, shaking her head. “I knew you was too much trouble to be worth.” She told y/n bluntly. 

“Don’t worry Miss Grimshaw, I’ll do better.”

“You better.” She then glared at her for a bit and cocked her head to the side, gesturing to the boxes of meds that Hosea recently got. “Go unpack ‘em.” She told her, y/n meekly nodded and started to unpack them. 


	24. "Talk It Out'

Although it’s been a few days since y/n killed that man…well she would be lying if she said that it didn’t haunt her. Every night when she closed her eyes she kept re-imagining his head being blown up to bits, her finger on the trigger. Every time she could hear the loud gunshot that shot through her ears, even if she didn’t want to admit it.  Arthur was out looking for the Reverend who was probably drunk out of his mind.

“Ms. L/n..?”

“Huh?” Y/n perked up, to see Abigail looking at her. Y/n almost forgot she was in the middle of teaching Abigail on how to treat a broken bone. She looked over to Abigail to see that she was halfway of making a cast, quickly y/n went back to her teaching. “Uh and then you wrap the body part but make sure that it ain’t too loose but as tight as possible, after all, they can’t feel it.” Y/n told her. 

“You’ve been out of a daze haven’t you?” Abigail asked her, raising an eyebrow.

“W-Well…” Y/n stuttered, her face becoming pale. Quickly, y/n shut her mouth she knew that if she told Abigail what she felt about the shooting, well that’s just one more thing that she had against y/n going on robberies. Treatin’ her more like a child than she already has, she shut her mouth looking away from Abigail. “It’s nothing.”

“Ms. L/n…” Abigail grumbled, raising an eyebrow. 

“It’s really nothing.” Y/n tried to dismiss her. 

“Ms. L/n don’t lie to me-“ Abigail was interrupted by Jack running up to her with a big smile on her face. 

“Momma!” He called to her. “Momma! Momma, I found some pretty flowers for you!” He told her, showing her a bunch of daisies that he pulled out just for her. Abigail all through flattered by her boy’s present, she quickly thanked him and returned her attention to y/n. Who was looking away from Abigail and was looking at somewhere else instead, Kieran was recently realized as their prisoner after he told the gang where some money might be and maybe even some O’Disrcols after Dutch of course threatened to cut off his penis. 

“Ms. L/n! C’mon now…” Abigail grumbled.

“What happened at Blackwater?” Y/n decided to change the attention and question, Abigail visibly looked a bit disturbed to y/n’s question, furrowing her eyebrows at her.

“What do you mean?”

“At the robbery…Mr. Martson asked, Mr. Morgan if was maybe a setup…after all the law came in rather quick.” Y/n explained to Abigail.

“And? So what does Blackwater have anythin’ to do with that?” Abigail asked her. 

“Well someone suggested that the law followed them from Blackwater, even Mr. Morgan said something about being noticed by someone from Blackwater.” Y/n explained to Abigail. “Is there something going on in this gang that ya’ll’ve been hidin’?” Y/n asked her. 

“I-I-“ Abigail was interrupted by Dutch walking up to them from behind. Y/n turned around to face Dutch, he smiled at the young women, from the background Molly was a bit annoyed, staring at Dutch and y/n. 

“Ms. L/n my dear little medic, may I speak with you for a moment?” He asked her, y/n nodded hesitantly leaving Abigail. Maybe y/n could ask Dutch something after all, Dutch smiled at her, gesturing to the seat behind her. “Please sit,” He told her, y/n nodded and sat down across from him. “Now Ms. L/n you’ve done a lot for the gang…maybe even a bit too much.” He told her.

“Well, it’s my pleasure, without ya’ll I would probably be out in the streets.” Y/n explained to him. “I’m still here thanks to you and Mr. Morgan.”

“Yes, yes, well I just wanted to thank you, properly for saving Arthur. You see he’s very reckless, even though he claims to be careful.” Dutch told her. “I-I just wanted to say you’ve been very helpful to us…thank you, Ms. L/n.” He thanked her, holding onto her hand. Y/n couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable, a nervous smile creeping onto her face laughing it off. She felt off and even a bit disturbed from this, the way Dutch was holding onto her hand…it didn’t feel very friendly. His large hairy palm over her small hands compared to his, his hands were rough and calloused, probably from all the shooting. 

“O-Of course Mr. Van Der Lind.” Y/n stuttered, a small trail of sweat rolling down her face. 

“Well it was a pleasure having you around y/n- or would you not be okay with me calling you by your first name? I just felt like using our last names was rather… _too stern.”_ Dutch explained to her.

“I-I don’t mind sir,” Y/n stuttered. “but I have a question to ask of you-“

“Of course! Ask away.”

“What happened in Blackwater?” She asked him.

 _“Blackwater?_ Now how do you know that town?” He asked her, finally letting go y/n’s hand. She rubbed her hands together a bit awkwardly, she suddenly regretted asking him the question. She gulped, not knowing what she had just got herself into. 

“I-I just heard from Mr. Morgan.” Y/n explained.

“Arthur? Now, what the hell did he say about-“ All of a sudden Arthur came back with Reverand, who was visibly drunk and stumbling around and about. Dutch chuckled,the perfect timing was amazing. He then got Arthur’s attention, gesturing him to come over to him. Y/n quickly gulped, her face turned pale, Arthur looked over to Dutch and then at y/n, he was a bit concerned to why Dutch was speaking to y/n but he ignored it. 

“What is it, Dutch?” He asked her.

“Y/n, was just telling me that you told her about Blackwater…or mentioned it?” He asked him. Arthur looked at Dutch a bit shocked and confused, looking at y/n, who avoided eye contact with him, she was looking at the ground. Already Arthur knew y/n had something to do with this as guilty as she looked.

“I did no such thing,” Arthur responded. 

“Well, that’s not what she said.”

“Listen there was just some talk that they followed us from Blackwater and that they followed us,” Arthur explained to him. “The girl just overheard it. Why don’t you tell the girl what happened at Blackwater?” He asked Dutch. Dutch sighed looking at Arthur shaking his head and then he looked over y/n.

“A lot of bad things happened there,” Dutch simply explained. “ _things_ that are meant to be left in the past.” He told her.

“Yeah, sure Dutch,” Arthur grumbled mocking him a bit. “Listen, you and the girl can keep talking I got other stuff toe handle.” He explained to them, tipping his hat to them. Y/n sighed, she felt even more guilty than before, she knew hat Arthur didn’t want her to talk about Blackwater. But for some reason, Arthur was actually a bit irritated and Jealous walking away from Dutch and y/n grumbling to himself. 

“Callin’ her Y/n…just what are they now…” He grumbled to himself lighting up a cigarette in his mouth. He couldn’t help but glare at them from afar, he really didn’t like the way that Dutch was speaking to y/n, especially using her first name like that. 

“What’s wrong with you big guy?” John asked Arthur, he turned to him sighing loudly. 

“Since when was the girl and Dutch buddy-buddy?” He asked him.

“Uh…” John trailed off. “Not recently…? Why?”

“Well he’s-“ Arthur cut himself off, he knew that this didn’t look good on him. It was obvious that he was very jealous already. He grumbled a bit, sighing looking over at Dutch and y/n. “he’s just calling her by her first name is all.” He grumbled.

“Well, maybe because she’s been ridin’ with us for some time now, we don’t need to keep the formalities,” John suggested to Arthur. “…You’re not jealous are you?”

“I ain’t jealous,” Arthur said a bit too defensively, gritting the back of his teeth. All of a sudden Dutch came by and walked towards Arthur and John, he smiled at them greeting them. Y/n sighed, slugging over, she looked over at the group of men and just knew they were talking about something important. 

“Ms. L/n!” Susan snarled at her. 

“Yes Miss. Grimshaw.” Y/n responded getting up from her seat, she then saw Molly was glaring at her from the corner of her eye. She had no idea how to react to the sudden glares from Molly, her arms crossed underneath her chest, she was just glaring daggers at her. Y/n chuckled awkwardly and waved at her, Molly only clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and walked off. “What’s her deal…?” Y/n muttered underneath her breath.

“Today Ms. L/n?!” Susan called out once more.

“I’m coming.” Y/n called back walking up to Susan. Already she was bombarded with chores, chores after chores after chores. 

“I was wondering if you would like to come to get a drink with me, Arthur,” Dutch asked Arthur.

“Get a drink, don’t ya want to invite the girl as well?” He asked him, mocking him a bit.

“No Arthur!” Dutch sighed shaking his head. “Look I have something important to talk to you about.” He told him, taking Arthur by the arm to speak to him more in private. “We've got some things to talk about, concerning the lawmen that you ran into when you was fishing with Jack.” He explained. Arthur nodded and rode off with Dutch to have some drinks, John with Strauss, however, left camp to do some other work.

 

Once Arthur and Dutch were talking over some drinks, a man came by holding John and Strauss hostage. Dutch started to make a speech towards them while John and Strauss had knives up against their throats, slowly Arthur reached for his gun while Dutch was distracting them and before they knew it a shoot out went down. Bodies collapsing, gunshot after gunshot although unfortunately Strauss got shot in the process. 

The men rode back to camp to get Strauss the quick care he needed from y/n, John carried Strauss out of the wagon with Arthur’s help.

“Someone get the girl!” Arthur shouted.

“What the hell happened?!” Javier shouted.

“Is he okay?” Tilly added.

“Get some water ladies!” Susan shouted at the women. “And somebody get Ms. L/n’s ass right here right now!” She shouted. Y/n quickly ran over to the group and gasped, seeing the wounded Strauss, quickly y/n kicked into her medical mode. Quickly following the men while they put him down on the bed so it would be easier for y/n to treat him.

“Mrs. Martson get me some clean rags, Sadie get me some tweezers, Ms. Gaskil whiskey, Ms. Jackson get me the antibiotic that cleans wounds, and somebody get me some needles and ad string.” She told the group, quickly everyone followed y/n’s instructions scurrying away, y/n quickly gave Strauss some whiskey and telling him everything will be alright. She looked up to Arthur glaring at him slightly, shaking her head. She saw all the blood on the men’s clothes, she knew something must’ve happened.

“What the hell happened?” She asked them. 


	25. "Touch"

“A whole lot of trouble girl,” Arthur responded in a low and rustic voice, y/n’s eyes widen her face turning pale, quickly she ignored her feelings and terrors she had and went back to patching up Strauss, whispering him words of encouragement, Abigail also helped y/n out, mostly keeping his leg up while y/n cleaned his wound, luckily the bullet went clean through.

“Ladies and gentlemen…” Dutch announced to the gang, walking around. “We must get packing and leave, Valentine is on our trail now. We can hide out here for a bit but Arthur and Charles are gonna find us a new place to live.” He told them, y/n couldn’t watch him but she had a feeling this all had something to do with their past…Y/n bit her tongue, she didn’t like the idea of putting everyone in danger like this, especially not Jack. 

“You’re lucky Mr. Strauss,” Y/n told him softly with a small smile. “the bullet went clean through.”

“I don’t feel very lucky.” He grumbled in response, y/n chuckled a bit. Sewing his skin together while Abigail cleaned up the area around them. 

“What happened?” She asked him, furrowing her eyebrows. 

“Well-“ He was interrupted by Dutch who walked up to y/n, putting his large hand over her shoulder. Damn, did that just feel uncomfortable...She tensed up and held her breath looking over at him, she didn’t like the way Dutch was getting a bit too comfortable around her. Getting into her personal space, calling her by her first name more often. 

She didn’t hate Dutch, she saw him more as a father figure, not whatever he was trying to be, y/n slowly looked up him. Her face was still pale and in shock from the news. 

“How’s he holding up?” He asked her.

“Fine.” Y/n responded, she then looked over at Strauss and smiled. “He’s very strong and will do just fine, he won’t be walking for a while though, I’ll tell you that. I give him about a month.” She told him. 

“A month?!” Strauss shouted.

“Yes a month but maybe if you just don’t put too much pressure on your leg you might recover faster.” Y/n told him.

“Well you’re doing a fine mighty job, y/n…” Dutch told her, rubbing her shoulder. Y/n quickly grew uncomfortable and quickly escaped his grasp, awkwardly swinging around, rubbing her hands together. 

“I-I better get cleaned up, feel better Mr. Strauss! I’ll be right around the corner if you need anything.” She told him.

“Thank you Ms. L/n.”

Y/n sent him a small smile and nodded, quickly she walked away from the two men. She walked over to the barrel and cleaned her face and hands that were covered in blood, she sighed looking at her reflection. Shaking her head, she didn’t enjoy this not one bit-she didn’t want Dutch, no-no. That wasn’t it. 

“If only he touched me like that…”Y/n muttered underneath her breath.

“If only who touched you like what?” A voice questioned, y/n gasped loudly turning around to see Mary-Beth. She had a journal in her hand, y/n heard about how Mary-Beth was also a bit of a writer around the camp, mostly romance novels.

“N-Nothing.” Y/n responded making a nervous smile. 

“That sure didn’t sound like nothin’.” Mary-Beth said with an innocent look, y/n panted a bit and smiled to try and dismiss her. 

“I-I was just talking to myself-“

“Ms. L/n…”

“Huh?”

“You know I read a lot of romance novels and well you’re acting just like the main heroines.” She told her bluntly, folding her arms above her chest, leaning against a wagon that was behind the girls. Y/n cocked an eyebrow, giving her a questionable look.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you want someone right, but they don’t want you back? Then somebody else wants you and don’t want them.” She told her bluntly with a small smirk forming on her face. “And now you’re wondering why, right?” Y/n blinked serval times at just how close Mary-beth explained her entire situation, she chuckled nervously and shook her head.

“I think you’ve been reading far too many books, Ms. Gaskil.” Y/n said awkwardly and backed away from her, shaking her head. She didn’t want to believe what just happened or even give her the benefit of the doubt. Mary- Beth looked at her a bit skeptical. 

“Maybe…or maybe not…” She said with a smile, y/n shook her head trying to deny the assumptions that Mary gave off to her, but luckily she was saved from her by Sadie.

“Y/n.”

“Huh?” Y/n turned around to see Sadie who had her hands on her hips. 

“A word with ya please?” She asked her.  

“Sure.” Y/n said softly, excusing herself. She walked over to Sadie, who smiled at Mary and walked away from Mary. She took y/n away from her and looked around the area, raising an eyebrow at her. “W-What?” Y/n asked her. 

“Well just been looking around and the way Mr. Van Der Lind been acting hasn’t been well exactly much of a father figure.” She explained to her. Y/n sighed, she knew that she was right. She couldn’t help but try to ignore what Sadie said.

“It’s fine, once he gets the idea that I’m not interested, he’ll stop.” She told Sadie. Sadie looked over y/n’s shoulder and noticed that Molly was glaring at y/n from afar. Molly noticed that Sadie knew that she was glaring at y/n. She looked away from the blonde and folded her arms. 

“Looks like some women don’t get that idea,” Sadie grumbled. Y/n knew exactly who she was talking about, ever since the morning when Dutch was acting strange towards her, Molly was glaring at her, it made her uncomfortable. 

 

After the next couple of days, Charles and Arthur found a new area, it was in Clemens Point.  Turns out that Arthur and Charles actually helped some folk along the way, they helped save a father and got a gold bar out of it. Y/n looked after Strauss and slowly but surely he was getting a lot better. Arthur walked over to y/n, who was minding her own business, unpacking some canned goods and other things. 

“M-Ms. L/n.” Arthur called to her, he gulped. He didn’t mean to stutter, y/n turned around and looked at him a bit dumbfounded herself.

“Yes, Mr. Morgan?” She asked him.

Arthur sighed, he wanted to ask her what was her and Dutch’s relation, and what they have gone through. He wanted to know just why was Dutch calling, her by her first name. It was bothersome, he didn’t like the way that he talked around her, or acted towards her. 

“Do you wanna go fishing?”

“Huh?"


	26. "Gone Fishing"

Y/n blinked in confusion, fishing? Out of all the things he wanted to do with y/n, he wanted to go fishing? She was caught off a bit off guard since, well she wasn’t expecting that. She was expecting him to ask her to go shooting or hunting. 

“Uh…fishing? Like actually fishing?” She asked him just to make sure that Arthur was speaking right. Arthur became visibly flustered, he fiddled with his thumbs looking over to the side and looking around since he felt so flustered around y/n. His face was tinted a soft pink, he put his hands over his buckle, tipping his hat over to him, coughing awkwardly.

“I just thought…we’ll uh, you never went fishing after all.” He told her. “So you know, I just thought why not?” He said shrugging a bit.

“I didn’t know you were a real good fisherman.” She teased a bit, he grumbled in response. He sent her a playful glare, shaking his head before grunting. 

“I never said I was, but it’s me or nothing, _girl.”_ Arthur teased her pet name a bit. Although y/n didn’t mind that pet name, it was simple and it wasn’t anything like ‘Pumpkin’ ‘Butter’ or ‘Munchin’. Y/n sent him a small smug smirk, chuckling. putting a strand of her hair behind her ear. She wouldn’t mind fishing after all being away from the camp didn’t sound bad at all or just avoiding Dutch in general either. She glanced over to Strauss, making sure that he seemed better. “Mrs. Matterson?” She called to Abigail who walked up to her.

“Yes, Ms. L/n?”

“Can you watch over Mr. Strauss for a bit? Mr. Morgan and I are going to go fishing.” She told her, pointing at the medicines that was on the table next to Strauss. “Give him the pink medicine to Mr. Strauss every hour and if anything gets out of hand just holler.” She told her with a smile, Abigail glanced over to Arthur then y/n, she couldn’t help but smile a bit. After all, a lot of the girls around the camp had secretly liked the idea of y/n and Arthur getting together. They look adorable and play off one another so well. 

“Of course, Ms. L/n.” Abigail said with a small smile on her face, nodding to the duo. “Mr. Morgan, you two have fun now.” She then walked over to Strauss, y/n smiled at her in response. Arthur looked over to y/n and then gestured to his horse, although there was a lake right in front of the camp. He wanted to take y/n to a nicer river, with a much more rewarding view for his girl. Y/n hopped onto her horse, Arthur brought his fishing gear. 

“Lead the way.” Y/n told him.

“Aight girl…try to catch up.” He said to her, he then raced off to the riverbanks. Y/n couldn’t help but have a big smile on her face, racing right behind him. It only took them half an hour, to get the riverbank. She was impressed with the view, the scenery surrounding them. The large mountains just making them feel small, the large forest pines around them. It was breathtaking, to say the least by this scenery, if the fish were as good as this view it’s gonna be a feast. 

“Amazing…” Y/n gasped softly looking at the view. 

“It ain’t bad, huh?” He asked her, with his hands over his buckle. Y/n nodded slowly, he handed her the other fishing pole that he brought for her. She thanked him, not exactly knowing how to hold the fishing pole, she looked over to Arthur who already pulled out his pole and was holding it. She copied the way he was holding onto the pole, he noticed this and couldn’t find it adorable, it was like a puppy. “Alright, girl this is what you do, you throw the line into the water.” He explained to her, showing her by throwing his line into the water himself, y/n copied him. “You’ll feel a Lil nudge or pull on the bait if that’s the case you just reel her in.” He explained to her.

“Alright, seems easy enough.” Y/n said with a bit of confidence, she stood up straight looking at the lake. “Have you ever caught anything enormous?” Y/n asked him, deciding to start up a conversation. Arthur glanced over at her, he had a smug smirk. 

“ _Enormous?_ Ain’t that a four-dollar word,” He said, y/n could see his ridiculously sharp canine teeth by the way he smirked. “Well, of course, I caught a thing or two.” He said. 

“A thing or two?” Y/n asked him, tilting her head to the side. “When? I never saw you bring any big old fishes.”

“U-Uh…last time I caught something big was about 5 years ago.” He told her. 

“Well then, must be rare then.” She muttered. 

“Well, that ain’t it really…I just was never much of a fisherman.” He explained to her. 

“Well, then…what are you then Mr. Morgan?” Y/n asked him, teasing him a bit. Arthur glanced at her, raising his eyebrow a bit. Y/n rose her eyebrows, again and again, looking a bit smug with a smirk. Arthur chuckled, he couldn’t help it when she acting all silly like this. 

“Well, I guess I’m a…” He thought about for a bit. He couldn’t think of anything positive, all he could think of was insults. ‘A sad man’, ‘ a bad man’, ‘a desperate man’ , ‘a lonely man’ he couldn’t think of anything positive of himself, none at all. “Well…I got nothing.” He told her, he didn’t want to ruin the moment that he was having with y/n, he didn’t want to turn this sweet moment into something sour. 

“What about a ‘Gunslinging man’?” Y/n suggested to him.

“A gunslinging man?” Arthur asked her. “I guess I am a pretty good shot.” He said, thinking about all the times he hit perfect shots over his years. 

“Actually…I don’t think that would really fully fit you.” Y/n told him bluntly, tilting her head to the side, she put her finger against her lips, she was thinking about it for a moment. There was a moment of silence before y/n spoke up. “What about the ‘good man’?” She suggested to him, he couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows. He didn’t expect y/n to go there, it caught him off guard, he would’ve expected her to say a joke or something but no, she went the ‘good man’ route. 

“I ain’t a good man, girl.” He grumbled.

“Then what are you, Mr. Morgan?” Y/n asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Well I ain’t a good man, that’s for sure.” He told her bluntly. “I’m the opposite of that.”

“A bad man?” Y/n asked him softly. “Is that what you are?”

“Yes.” He said bluntly. 

“Well a ‘bad man’ doesn’t just bring someone to a nice lake, ‘a bad man’ doesn’t comfort someone, a ‘bad man’ doesn’t take a little boy like Jack fishing.” Y/n told him. “You aren’t a bad man…” Y/n said softly. 

“You don’t know me, girl,” Arthur told her, growling a bit at her. 

“I don’t believe it, besides…it’s just my opinion.”

“Well, it’s wrong.”

“My opinion?”

“Yes,” Arthur responded. 

“Well, it’s my opinion, not your’s~” Y/n teased a bit, all of a sudden y/n felt her weight being yanked at her. Y/n’s body was lunged towards the lake, barely being able to catch herself she dug her feet into the dirt. Quickly Arthur saw her struggling, her back arching by just how much force was being pulled on her. He ran towards her, dropping his pole he held her. Y/n’s eyes widen, he easily picked her up, pulling her back. 

“Reel her in!” Arthur told her. 

“I’m tryin’” Y/n grunted, she tried to reel the fish in. But it was very difficult, it took her all of her strength but all of sudden Arthur also started to slip on the dirt. Y/n’s eyes widen gasping loudly, the two started to slip down into the lake and all of a sudden their bodies were flung into the water. 

“Nice going,” Arthur grumbled, spitting out the water, y/n looked over at him. All of a sudden she had a mischievous smile on her face, she swatted water towards the man. Arthur turned over to her, giving her a playful glare. 

“O-OH NO!” Y/n shouted loudly, Arthur then chased her down in the lake. Y/n looked back and was amazed at how fast he swam towards her. Her face turned pale before she knew it he was already right behind her. “S-Shit!” Y/n muttered, all of a sudden Arthur splashed a wave towards her. Y/n’s face was wet, her hair was drenched with water, she gave Arthur a smirk. She wanted to get him back, she splashed more water towards Arthur, he tried to block the splash but failed to do so. Arthur dove under the lake, y/n’s face was shocked. She looked around the water, not knowing where the hell did he dive off to. 

“Huh?” She questioned. “Mr. Morgan?” She asked, there was a moment of silence and before she knew it Arthur swam underneath her, his shoulders right underneath y/n. He lifted her up, her legs dangling onto her shoulder, he held her up. 

“W-Woah!” Y/n stuttered. 

Arthur then tossed her overboard, her body was flung into the water. Y/n swam up from underneath the water, she sent him a playful glare that Arthur gave back to her. Y/n wiggled her eyebrows towards him, he looked at her a bit confused as to how to react to that. She splashed some water back at him, he chuckled splashing more water to her. 

After a couple of hours of them playing around in the water, the two got out of the water. Y/n dried up a bit in the sun with Arthur, looking at the lake. “We was supposed to get some fish…” Y/n said softly, munching on her apple that she packed up. Arthur nodded, he took off his shirt and belt buckle in order to dry it off, he was chewing on some tobacco that he bought with him. Y/n couldn’t help but glance over at him, his large body overshadowing her figure. He was muscular, large bulky arms that were nothing short of muscle, his four-pack outlined, he had some hair on his chest, not too much to be too overbearing but just enough. She couldn’t help but linger looking at him, his body was riddled with scars, from bullets, stab wounds, old bruises. Then again it was expected after all he was an outlaw and that’s just what comes with the job application. Arthur didn’t notice her looking until he turned around looking over at her, she blushed a bit looking away. 

“Well girl, we may not have been able to get some fish but we just fooled around.” He said to her. “We should get going soon, the sun is going down.” Y/n nodded in agreement, she packed things, putting them back on their horses. She couldn’t help but watch him putting on his button-up, tucking his shirt in lazily into his jeans. 

“I had fun.” Y/n said grinning at him, she was on her horse so she was finally able to know how it is to be taller than him. He smiled at her return, patting her horse nodding. 

“I had fun too…” There was a moment of silence, all could be heard was soft breathing, the bird gawking, the wind blowing in the air. She couldn’t help but let her heart race against her chest, Arthur coughed a bit awkwardly, getting back on his horse. He then started to lead the way back to the camp, y/n followed him closely behind. Y/n was still a bit shocked that just had happened, they had a great time in the lake. 


End file.
